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mtljeCttpoflSmitork 


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SHETLAND 


AND   THE  SHETLANDERS; 


^Tije  jSTorttjern  ((tivtuit 


By    CATHERINE    SINCLAIR, 

Author  of  "Modem  Accomplishments,"  "Modern  Society,"  "Hill  and 
Valley,"  "Charhe  Seymour,"  "Holiday  House,"  &c.  &c. 


O  Scotland!  nurse  of  bravest  men, 
But  nurse  of  bad  men  too ! 
For  thee  the  good  attempt  in  vain, 
What  villains  still  undo  ! 

Robertson  of  Struan. 


DEDICATED  TO  THE  HIGHLAND  SOCIETY. 


NEW-YORK: 

D.  APPLETON   &  CO.,    200   BROADWAY. 

1840. 


51055 


UNIVERSITY  PRESS. 
JOHN  F.  TROW,  PRINTER,  114  NASSAU- STREET. 


PREFACE 


The  author  having  in  a  previous  volume  ventured 
forward  with  some  apprehension,  she  has  been  so 
agreeably  surprised  by  the  success  of  her  first  shot, 
in  bringing  down  a  large  covey  of  readers,  that  she 
feels  encouraged  now  to  discharge  a  second  barrel, 
trusting  it  may  not  be  said  that  she  has  overshot 
the  mark. 

The  more  deeply  grateful  the  author  feels  to 
those  who  have  candidly,  and  only  partially  viewed 
her  present  attempt  to  throw  some  additional  light 
and  interest  on  the  locahties  of  Scotland,  the  more 
solicitous  she  is,  not  to  draw  too  largely  on  their 
forbearance,  or  to  intrude  too  frequently  on  their 
attention ;  she  now  therefore  concludes  this  work, 
hoping  that  the  very  indulgent  public  may  long 
continue 

''  To  all  its  faults  a  little  blind/' 


^ 


SHETLAND 
AND  THE  SHETLANDERS 


DORNOCH 


TO    A    SCOTCH    COUSIN. 

I've  often  wished  that  I  had  clear, 
For  life  six  hundred  pounds  a-year, 
A  handsome  house  to  lodge  a  friend, 
A  river  at  my  garden's  end, 
A  terrace-walk,  and  half  a  rood 
Of  land,  set  out  to  plant  a  wood;   ' 

Pope. 

My  dear  Cousin, — When  students  are  about  to 
leave  Oxford,  a  list  is  given  in  of  the  books  to 
which  their  attention  has  been  chiefly  devoted,  and 
they  are  examined  by  a  learned  jury  on  the  progress 
and  depth  of  their  attainments.  If  we  were  all 
obliged  occasionally  to  render  up  before  competent 
examiners  such  an  account  of  our  time,  it  would  be 
amusing,  in  most  cases,  to  see  the  miscellaneous  list 
of  favourite  authors  presented  !  Instead  of  Homer, 
1* 


b  DORNOCH. 

Cicero,  and  Herodotus,  how  often  we  should  find 
"  Trollope,  Dickens,  and  Hook,"  or  perhaps  "  Byron, 
Scott,  and  the  Newgate  Calendar,"  but  of  late  your 
more  abstruse  studies  have  been  seriously  impeded 
by  the  incessant  battledore  and  shuttlecock  of  our 
correspondence,  and  the  Post-office  must  wonder 
what  can  be  going  on  in  the  North,  seeing  so  con- 
stant a  succession  of  letters  pouring  in  upon  you, 
their  seals  strained  almost  to  bursting,  like  the  lock 
of  a  trunk  on  a  journey. 

We  are  credibly  informed,  that  the  Empress 
Josephine  wore  thirty  new  bonnets  in  a  month  ;  and 
really  those  who  travel  through  the  wind  and  rain 
of  this  changeable  summer  would  require  to  follow 
the  example,  or  to  wear  theirs  of  cast-iron.  Mr. 
M'Intosh  ought  to  receive  a  petition  from  the  ladies, 
to  invent  something  becoming  for  us  to  wear  during 
rain,  as  he  certainly  has  sacrificed  the  ornamental 
to  the  useful  in  respect  to  gentlemen,  who  are  much 
to  be  pitied  for  the  sort  of  hideous  domino  they  all 
wear  in  a  shower,  though  they  might  be  envied  also 
for  the  impunity  with  which  they  can  brave  the 

worst  now.     I  often  think  A would  rather  have 

a  torrent  of  rain  than  otherwise,  to  prove  how  im- 
pregnable, amidst  the  w^ar  of  elements,  are  his  for- 
tifications. 

We  had  a  delightful  clearing-up  towards  eve- 
ning for  inspecting  the  neat  little  county  town  of 


DORNOCH. 


Dornoch,  where  I  greatly  admired  the  magnificent 
donation  of  a  fine  cathedral  presented  to  the  city 
some  years  ago,  by  the  Duchess-Countess  of  Suther- 
land, who  expended  £Q000  in  renewing  an  ancient 
ecclesiastical  edifice  which  stood  here,  dedicated  to 
St.  Gilbert,  a  saint  with  whom  I  was  not  previously 
acquainted.  The  former  building  had  been  burned, 
along  with  a  large  proportion  of  the  town,  by  an 
invading  army,  but  her  Grace  caused  the  old  pro- 
portions and  very  elaborate  decorations  to  be  copied 
with  almost  Chinese  minuteness,  and  now  it  wants 
only  a  few  centmies  of  antiquity  to  be  quite  venera- 
ble. 

After  this  renewal  had  been  successfully  com- 
pleted, the  Duchess  only  once  enjoyed  the  gratifica- 
tion of  attending  public  worship  in  that  house  of 
God,  where  she  now  lies  interred  beneath  a  wooden 
trap-door  in  front  of  the  altar.  There  also  sleeps 
the  Duke  her  husband,  to  whom  the  county  of  Suth- 
erland owed,  and  has  testified,  almost  unbounded 
respect  and  gratitude.  On  the  summit  of  a  neigh- 
bouring hill,  a  pillar,  sixty  feet  high,  surmounted  by 
a  colossal  statue,  may  be  seen  for  thirty  miles  round, 
"  known  to  every  star  and  every  wind  that  blows." 
It  was  raised  by  the  personal  labour  and  subscrip- 
tions of  his  own  attached  tenantry  to  the  memory  of 
this  nobleman,  originally  a  stranger  to  our  heath- 
covered   mountains,  who  became   so  completely  a 


8  DORNOCH. 

Scotchman  by  adoption,  that  he  spent  the  whole 
income  of  his  Highland  estates  in  improving  them, 
resided  much  in  that  remote  district,  associated  cor- 
dially with  his  tenantry,  and  chose  his  dukedom  to 
perpetuate  his  connection  with  this  country  and  with 
the  ancient  Earldom  of  Sutherland,  the  oldest  title 
in  Britain. 

The  Duke's  death  was  supposed  to  have  been 
hastened  by  the  cold  and  fatigue  of  a  steam  voyage 
to  Scotland;  and  the  Duchess,  who  survived  him 
five  years,  gave  directions,  on  her  death-bed,  with 
singular  forethought,  that  her  body  should  be  con- 
veyed to  Dornoch  by  sea,  but  that  any  of  her  family 
who  were  to  be  present  at  the  funeral  should  avoid 
the  danger  of  a  winter  voyage,  and  follow  by  land. 

Few  persons  have  enjoyed  a  more  remarkably 
prosperous  life  than  the  Duchess-Countess  of  Suther- 
land, gifted  from  her  earliest  youth  with  an  eminent 
share  of  beauty,  talents,  and  fortune,  which  she  lived 
to  enjoy,  almost  unimpaired,  during  a  long  course 
of  years. 

It  is  well  known  that  when  Lord  Trentham  was 
jilted  by  the  beautiful  but  fickle  Lady  Caroline 
Spencer,  some  friend  reported  to  him  that  the  young- 
heiress  of  Dunrobin  had  expressed  astonishment  how 
any  lady  could  refuse  one  so  deserving  of  happiness. 
Upon  hearing  this,  he  instantly  declared  that  she 
could  more  than  compensate  for  his  recent  disap- 


DORNOCH. 


pointment, — the  result  of  which  eclaircissement  was, 
an  alhance  most  propitious  to  the  best  interests  of 
Scotland. 

The  Duchess-Countess,  when  about  to  be  snatch- 
ed from  all  that  this  world  could  bestow,  testified 
astonishing  composure  while  she  contemplated  the 
immediate  approach  of  death.  When  alluding  to 
the  prospect  of  her  own  impending  dissolution,  she 
said,  "  It  is  quite  as  well  now  as  afterwards ;"  and 
when  advised  to  postpone  some  important  business, 
she  rephed,  "There  is  no  time  for  me  but  the 
present." 

No  subject  excites  such  deep  interest  in  every 
human  breast,  as  to  ascertain  how  that  last  enemy 
has  been  met  by  others,  which  must  sooner  or  later 
conquer  ourselves  !  It  often  seems  to  me,  that  du- 
ring life,  we  are  placed  between  two  impenetrable 
curtains,  the  one  hiding  from  our  sight  all  that  is 
past,  the  other  all  that  is  future ;  but  a  death-bed 
throws  both,  as  it  were,  aside, — the  door  stands  a-jar 
leading  into  another  world, — and  w^e  then  see  at 
once,  in  solemn  array,  all  the  follies  of  our  former 
existence,  and  all  the  terrors  of  a  future  judgment, 
which  often  so  fearfully  awaken  those  agonies  of 
conscience  that  beset  the  mind  of  a  dying  sinner. 
Sir  Henry  Halford,  who  attended  the  final  hours  of 
many  an  eminent  individual,  has  recorded  his  own 
surprise  how  many  have  no  reluctance  to  die, — some 


10  DORNOCH. 

from  impatience  of  suffering,  others  from  passive  in- 
difference, but  many  from  faith  in  our  holy  religion. 
"  Such  men,"  he  adds,  "  were  not  only  calm  and 
supported,  but  cheerful,  in  the  hour  of  death,  and  I 
never  quitted  such  a  sick-chamber,  without  a  hope 
that  my  last  end  might  be  like  theirs."  It  is  very 
remarkable  to  observe,  how  little  our  love  of  life  is 
proportioned  to  the  external  prosperity  we  enjoy  in 
it,  and  that  whenever  we  fancy  any  individual  hav- 
ing more  than  a  common  share  of  happiness,  he  is 
always  some  one  of  whom  we  know  nothing,  or 
very  little.  You  have  heard  of  the  poor  bed-ridden 
old  beggar,  who  clasped  his  hands  in  an  agony  of 
grief  when  told  he  was  dying,  and  exclaimed,  "  Oh, 
this  is  a  pleasant  world  !"  and  you  have  seen  others, 
with  scarcely  a  want  unsupplied,  who  seemed 
weary  of  their  very  existence,  and  endured  it  only 
from  a  dread  of  futurity.  Baxter  said,  he  was  all 
his  life  tempted  sinfully  to  wish  that  he  had  never 
been  born ;  and  those  who  have  attained  the  most 
that  this  world  can  offer,  have  greatest  leisure  to 
look  around-on  the  barrenness  of  the  prospect,  while 
they  might  be  apt  to  exclaim,  like  Caesar,  when  he 
gained  his  empire,  "  Is  this  all !"  A  peaceful  con- 
science, that  blessing  which  all  might  enjoy,  who 
rightly  seek  and  value  it,  is  the  only  support  which 
will  avail  in  the  end,  and  some  Christians  have  at- 
tained that  holy  faith  which  encouraged  them  to 


DORNOCH.  11 

feel  a  clam  serene  expectation,  that  when  the  veil 
was  drawn  back  which  hides  eternity  from  om- 
sight,  they  were  immediately  to  behold  the  glories 
of  Heaven.  Yet  how  carefully  must  we  discriminate 
between  a  resigned  death,  and  a  prepared  death. 
Those  who  are  most  eagerly  seeking  the  world's 
honours,  pleasures,  and  applause,  would  scarcely  be 
ready  to  acknowledge  the  wisdom  of  that  last  wash 
expressed  by  the  unfortunate  Princess  Caroline  Ma- 
tdda,  who  scratched  these  words  with  a  diamond  on 
the  window  of  her  prison — "  Oh  !  make  me  inno- 
cent— be  others  great!"  Every  living  person  is 
born  with  desires  which  the  world,  and  all  it  con- 
tains, never  can  satisfy ;  and  though  all  the  gifts  of 
fortune  accumulated  around  us,  were  conspiring  to 
hide  our  Maker  from  our  thoughts,  we  could  not  but 
feel  that  there  are  higher  pleasures,  and  greater 
gifts,  than  any  upon  earth,  which  we  are  created  to 
seek,  and  without  which  we  can  reach  no  happiness 
that  deserves  the  name.  It  is  astonishing  how 
many  persons  never  pause,  in  the  hurry  of  life,  to 
ask  themselves  in  what  their  enjoyments  consist, 
and  to  what  they  tend, — who  live  in  mere  vague 
sensations  of  either  pleasure  or  pain,  without  ascer- 
taining whether  they  acquire  all  the  best  and  rich- 
est blessings  which  might  be  procured.  If  we  are 
merely  receiving  change  for  a  note,  what  a  cautious 
examination  is  made  whether  the  full  amount  be 


12  DORNOCH. 

paid,  and  how  carefully  do  we  avoid  being  cheated 
of  the  smallest  fraction,  yet  how  indifferent  we  are 
whether  the  joys  and  hopes  on  which  we  spend  our 
lives  be  genuine,  and  whether  they  be  such  as  will 
certainly  pass  current  in  that  future  world  to  which 
we  all  are  hastening  ! 

As  riches  and  honours,  then,  neither  increase  the 
love  of  life,  nor  diminish  the  awfulness  of  death, 
we  can  scarcely  form  too  low  an  estimate  of  their 
intrinsic  worth.  When  rightly  used,  however,  not 
as  the  end,  but  as  the  means  of  enjoyment,  they  add 
so  much  to  the  usefulness  and  the  influence  of  those 
who  desire  to  promote  the  glory  of  God,  and  the 
good  of  mankind,  that  they  surely  become  legitimate 
objects  of  pursuit,  though  we  read  that  Martin  Lu- 
ther, in  his  last  will  and  testament,  returned  special 
thanks  to  God  that  he  had  been  born  poor,  and  pos- 
sessed "  neither  house,  land,  nor  money  to  leave 
behind." 

The  Cathedral  of  Dornoch  has  been  built,  unfor- 
tunately, with  so  loud  an  echo  inside,  that  part  of 
the  congregation  hear  the  sound  only,  but  not  the 
sense,  of  what  may  be  said  ;  and  frequently,  in  fine 
weather,  Mr.  Kennedy  prefers  preaching  in  the  open 
air.  Even  when  talking  to  each  other,  we  seemed 
to  hear  double,  but  much  might  be  amended  by 
hanging  up  curtains  and  draperies  to  deaden  the  re- 
verberation.    Nothing   is   so   little  understood   in 


GOLSPIE.  13 

architecture  as  the  building  of  sacred  edifices  to  suit 
the  voice ;  but  it  would  be  a  useful  invention  if 
churches  could  be  built  so  that  only  good  sermons 
should  be  audible. 

The  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Sutherland  establish- 
ed, round  the  whole  of  their  vast  domains,  a  line  of 
fii-st-rate  inns,  each  displaying  for  its  frontispiece 
their  own  crest,  the  cat  rampant,  certainly,  next  to 
Whittington's,  the  most  fortunate  cat  in  the  world. 
It  was  alleged  formerly  to  be  a  cmious  peculiarity 
of  this  country,  recorded  by  Sir  Robert  Gordon,  that 
"  ther  is  not  a  ratt  in  Sutherland  ;  and  if  they  doe 
come  thither  in  shipps  from  other  pairts,  which 
often  happeneth,  they  die  presentlie,  how  soon  they 
doe  smell  the  aire  of  that  cuntrey ;  but  there  is  great 
store  and  abundance  of  them  in  Catheynes,  the  verie 
nixt  adjacent  province."  Some  of  that  very  pecu- 
liar "  aire"  should  be  imported  to  London  for  the 
House  of  Commons.  One  of  the  best  hotels  in  Scot- 
land may  be  found  at  this  charming  village  of  Gol- 
spie, situated  close  to  a  fine  trouting  stream,  and 
near  the  noble  park  of  Dunrobin,  which  is  liberally 
opened  for  a  public  promenade.  Mrs.  Duncan,  the 
landlady  here,  is  sister  to  two  clergymen,  and  a  most 
pious,  excellent  person  herself,  moderate  in  her 
charges,  and  so  cordial  in  her  reception  of  guests, 
that  it  seems  like  visiting  some  kind  old  aunt  or 
grandmother  to  arrive  at  the  door.  She  hurried  up 
2 


14  GOLSPIE. 

to  US  immediately  Avith  a  most  liberal  presentation 
of  wine  and  shortbread,  that  we  might  be  "  eating 
while  w^e  ordered  dinner !"  Our  hostess  spoke  with 
tears  of  the  late  Duchess,  who  often  stopped  her 
carriage  when  passing  the  inn,  to  ascertain  what 
travellers  had  lately  been  there  ;  and  the  good  land- 
lady is  gifted  with  the  faculty  most  useful  in  her 
line,  in  which  none  but  the  Royal  Family  could  ex- 
cel her,  of  never  forgetting  any  person.  Mrs.  Dun- 
can had  been  completely  perplexed  by  one  guest, 
however,  last  time  I  was  here,  who  arrived  at  Golspie 
in  the  mail,  intending  to  pass  on,  but  attracted  by 
the  splendid  scenery  and  excellent  fare,  he  ordered 
his  baggage  to  be  dismounted,  and  declared  his  in- 
tention to  remain  there  all  night.  Day  after  day 
passed  on,  week  after  w^eek  elapsed,  and  still  the 
gentleman  occupied  her  best  parlour,  and  lingered 
on,  entranced  by  new  beauties  in  the  landscape,  till 
the  summer  had  passed  entirely  away.  No  name 
appeared  on  his  portmanteau,  and  he  neither  receiv- 
ed letters,  nor  cultivated  acquaintances !  The  whole 
inn  got  into  an  uproar  of  curiosity  about  this  inter- 
esting incognito  !  According  to  all  the  rules  of  ro- 
mance, he  ought  to  have  been  handsome,  but  conceive 
my  disappointment  at  seeing  a  middle-aged,  respect- 
able looking  man,  in  a  brown  bob-wig  !  Even  Mrs. 
Duncan  seemed  quite  mortified,  that  he  was  neither 
a  disguised  Prince,  nor  a  swindler,  all  the  silver 


DUNROBIN    CASTLE.  15 

spoons  remained  in  their  places,  and  at  last  he  paid 
his  bill  in  quite  a  matter-of-fact  way,  put  his  trunk 
on  the  mail  again,  and  exit  on  the  top  of  the  coach ! 

Mrs.  Duncan's  reminiscences  of  former  guests 
are  more  disinterested  than  those  of  your  old  land- 
lady at  Brighton,  who  estimated  travellers  by  the 
length  of  bill  they  incurred,  sa}dng,  "He  was  an 
excellent  man, — always  posted  with  four  horses, 
ordered  his  bottle  of  sherry  for  dinner,  and  seldom 
went  to  bed  without  a  hot  supper  at  night !" 

I  never  felt  a  sensation  so  like  being  in  a  bal- 
loon as  when  gazing  from  the  drawing-room  win- 
dow of  Dunrobin  Castle,  perched  like  an  eagle's 
aerie  on  the  summit  of  a  lofty  rock,  and  looking 
down  on  the  waving  tops  of  the  trees,  the  ocean 
furrowed  with  sti'eaks  of  foam,  and  the  far  distant 
prospect  of  Tarbetness,  with  its  beacon-light 

"  Streaming  comfort  o'er  the  troubled  deep." 

A  long  hne  of  points  and  pinnacles  terminates  at 
Trouphead,  and  if  you  can  look  on  the  whole  view 
without  an  ecstasy  of  admiration,  shut  your  eyes 
on  nature  for  ever  after,  as  you  are  unworthy  to 
behold  her.  The  park,  though  not  highly  dressed 
or  ornamented,  has  the  beauty  of  great  extent,  and 
is  abundantly  wooded  to  the  edge  of  the  wnde  and 
intensely  blue  ocean.  Every  tree  so  exposed  to  the 
wild  northern  blast  must  have  a  precarious  existence, 


16  DUNROBIN   CASTLE. 

and  those  planted  nearest  the  ocean  generally  perish 
on  a  forlorn  hope ;  but  no  species  can  brave  the  sea- 
breeze  half  so  hardily  as  the  Huntingdon  willow, 
which  has  outgrown  all  its  cotemporaries  at  least 
twelve  feet  in  height,  and  is  covered  with  abundant 
foliage,  though  all  shaped  like  flags,  with  a  bare 
pole  next  the  sea,  and  the  long  branches  fluttering 
and  streaming  towards  the  land. 

The  enormously  fat  housekeeper,  well-known  at 
Dunrobin,  was  absent  to-day,  but  w^e  found  a  thin- 
ner one  who  answered  our  purpose  equally  well  in 
displa^^ng  the  house,  which  is  considered  to  be  the 
oldest  inhabited  residence  in  Britain.  Do  you  re- 
member a  conundrum  with  which  a  friend  of  ours 
once  astonished  the  stately  and  dignified  Duchess- 
Countess  of  Sutherland,  "  Why  is  the  proprietor  of 
this  place,  like  a  thief  on  the  gallows  ?  Because 
he  has  Done-rohhing  P'  The  date  is  1100,  and  the 
name  is  of  Gaelic  derivation,  signifjdng  "  the  hill  of 
Robert,"  after  Robert  Earl  of  Sutherland,  who  built 
it.  In  the  court  of  this  castle  is  one  of  the  deepest 
draw  wells  in  Scotland,  but  we  must  hope  that  truth 
does  not  lie  at  the  bottom  of  it. 

This  remote  old  castle  used  to  be  filled,  not  many 
years  ago,  with  company  as  distinguished  for  rank 
and  consequence  as  the  guests  at  Windsor  Palace. 
The  first  society  in  England  was  attracted  by  the 
Duchess,  who  lived  there  like  a  feudal  Princess,  en- 


DUNROBIN    CASTLE.  17 

tertaining  often  thirty  guests  at  dinner,  and  lodging 
sixty  servants  in  the  house.  Since  her  lamented 
decease,  a  pall  of  mourning  is  spread  over  the  whole 
county,  and  this  venerable  castle  seemed  to  me  now- 
like  an  old  friend  in  adversity,  as  I  wandered  through 
its  desolate  halls,  remembering  the  last  time  I  dined 
here,  w^hen  "  the  free  and  independent  electors  of 
Sutherlandshire"  were  entertained  at  table,  and  her 
Grace's  two  pipers  effectually  drowned  all  political 
discussions,  by  performing  pibrochs  alternately, 
equipped,  the  one  in  the  Sutherland  tartan,  the  other 
in  that  of  Lord  Reay's  country,  which  her  Grace 
had  recently  added  to  her  vast  possessions.  Even 
many  of  the  old  ancestors  are  vanished  from  Dun- 
robin,  having  gone  to  London  to  be  refreshed  and 
beautified,  though  copies  of  several  still  decorate  the 
steward's  room  ;  and  I  could  not  but  fancy,  in  look- 
ing at  the  Duchess-Countess's  mother,  and  her  aunt, 
the  good  Lady  Glenorchy,  that,  hanging  where  they 
do,  they  must  lend  their  countenance  occasionally 
to  scenes  and  conversation  rather  unsuitable  to  their 
dignity.  My  grandmother.  Lady  Janet  Sutherland's 
portrait  appears  there  in  the  character  of  a  little 
smiling  old-fashioned  infant,  certainly  rather  formal, 
with  a  cherry  in  her  hand,  looking  very  imlike  the 
venerable  character  she  afterwards  became,  when, 
such  was  the  reverence  felt  for  her  in  Caithness,  that 
a  clergyman  hearing  she  was  to  preside  at  an 
2* 


18  DUNROBIN   CASTLE. 

Edinburgh  assembly,  directed  his  letter  to  her  as 
"  Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly,  Edinburgh !" 
Her  nephew,  the  last  Earl  of  Sutherland's  likeness, 
in  full  Highland  garb,  is  to  be  seen  on  the  staircase. 
Judging  from  that,  and  the  other  portraits  of  him  in 
various  splendid  costumes,  which  decorate  different 
apartments,  he  must  have  had  a  very  interesting  ap- 
pearance, and  his  Countess  has  so  animated  and 
speaking  an  expression,  that  her  mere  picture  en- 
livens the  room,  and  she  must  have  been  a  delightful 
companion.  She  and  her  husband  having  both  died 
young,  within  sixteen  days  of  each  other,  w^ere  buried 
in  one  grave  at  Holyi^ood  Chapel,  and  the  Duchess- 
Countess  raised  a  monument  to  the  memory  of  her 
parents  in  Dornoch  Cathedral.  It  consists  of  two 
marble  pillars,  each  surmounted  by  an  urn,  and 
crowned  with  a  coronet.  This  inscription  is  carved 
underneath — "  They  were  lovely  and  pleasant  in 
their  lives,  and  in  their  death  they  were  not  divided." 

A  dismal  likeness  is  here,  representing  the  Duke 
of  Richmond,  who  never  laid  aside  his  mourning 
after  the  execution  of  Charles  I. ;  and  we  admired 
an  interesting  picture  of  Lady  Glenorchy  in  her 
childhood,  teaching  music  to  an  orphan  girl  whom 
she  educated ;  an  early  indication  of  that  active  be- 
nevolent usefulness,  for  which,  in  more  essential 
things,  she  became  afterw^ards  so  distinguished. 

The  Marquis  of  Hastings,  and  a  gay  party  of 


DUNROBIN    CASTLE.  19 

visiters  at  Dunrobin,  once  secured  the  whole  mail 
at  Golspie,  and  wheeled  themselves  round  to  Thurso, 
where  they  hired  post  horses  to  John  0'  Groat's 
house,  taking  refreshments  along  with  them — a  ruin 
is,  of  course,  nothing  without  a  sandwich — and  w^ere 
back  next  night,  making  a  circuit  of  120  miles. 
Most  travellers  must  be  grievously  disappointed  in 
the  far-famed  John  0'  Groat's  house,  of  which  not 
a  fragment  remains.  The  downs  in  that  place,  how- 
ever, are  the  most  vividly  and  intensely  green  you 
ever  saw,  and  the  clear  w^hite  waves  break  along  a 
beach  composed,  for  many  miles'  extent,  of  shells 
ground  to  pow^der ; 

all  beside  is  pebbly  length  of  shore, 

And  far  as  eye  can  reach,  it  can  discern  no  more. 

During  our  progress  along  forty  miles  from  Dun- 
robin  to  Wick,  we  drove  so  close  to  the  sea,  that 
but  for  the  height  of  the  hills,  we  might  have  kept 
one  wheel  in  the  water  all  the  way,  and  the  journey 
w^as  like  a  voyage,  without  the  discomfort  or  danger. 
The  distant  sea  gulls  looked  like  a  flight  of  butter- 
flies, and  the  glittering  foam  was  blown  in  feathers 
along  the  ocean,  "  a  moment  white,  then  gone  for 
ever !"  Many  parts  of  this  coast  are  bold  and  fine, 
though  the  bleak  and  barren  prevails  elsewhere,  and 
several  of  the  fields  are  so  covered  with  large  rocks, 
some  flat  and  others  upright,  that  the  appearance 
was  like  that  of  a  church-yard.     One  proprietor,  to 


20  HELMSDALE. 

consume  the  superfluous  stones,  has  built  Httle  towers, 
resembhng  chessmen,  at  the  comersof  several  fields; 
but  if  the  whole  had  been  gathered  up,  they  would 
make  a  perfect  pyramid  of  Egypt. 

The  flourishing  little  sea-port  of  Helmsdale, 
which  now  sends  out  a  fleet  of  several  hundred  her- 
ring boats,  is  inhabited  by  ci-devant  cottagers  from 
the  rural  parts  of  Sutherlandshire,  where  forty  miles 
of  country,  once  their  home,  looks  now  as  if  a  vic- 
torious enemy  had  laid  it  w^aste  ;  every  little  hamlet 
in  ruins,  though  the  scorched  and  blackened  walls 
yet  remain,  the  church  w^here  once  a  numerous  con- 
gregation assembled,  now  so  nearly  empty,  that  the 
parish  clergyman  might  address  his  clerk  as  Dean 
Swift  did,  "  dearly  beloved  Roger !"  and  the  unten- 
anted gardens,  still  partly  enclosed,  and  more  bright- 
ly green  than  the  surrounding  common, 

where  once  the  garden  smiled, 

And  still  where  many  a  garden  flower  grows  wild. 

The  villagers  long  resented  this  arbitrary  sub- 
stitution of  sheep,  while  they  w^ere  themselves  driven 
in  flocks  to  the  coast,  and  when  any  of  the  Suther- 
land family  appeared  in  that  neighbourhood  for  some 
time  afterwards,  they  were  followed  by  crowds  an- 
grily imitating  the  bleating  of  sheep ;  but  if  the  end 
could  sanctify  the  means,  that  measure  has  turned 
out  well,  as  the  people,  formerly  steeped  in  poverty, 
and  sunk  in  the  desponding  indolence  consequent  on 


ORD  OF    CAITHNESS.  21 

hopeless  penury,  are  now  become  industrious,  cheer- 
ful, and  prosperous.  We  saw  the  Castle  of  Helms- 
dale, looking  like  the  ruins  of  an  old  band-box. 
Once  upon  a  time,  however,  it  had  inhabitants,  when 
an  atrocious  murder  was  committed  there  by  Isabella 
Sinclair,  who  poisoned  the  Earl  and  Countess  of 
Sutherland,  and  was  condemned  to  death  for  the 
crime  in  Edinburgh,  but  made  away  with  herself  on 
the  day  of  her  execution,  cursing  her  cousin,  George 
Earl  of  Caithness,  whom  she  accused  of  having  in- 
stigated the  crime,  that  her  own  son  might  succeed 
to  the  title,  a  promising  youth,  who,  unfortunately 
for  himself,  brought  a  strange  retribution  on  his  am- 
bitious mother,  as  he  drank  the  poisoned  cup  she 
had  prepared  for  Lord  Sutherland's  only  son,  and 
immediately  expired. 

The  Ord  of  Caithness  was  formerly  pre-eminent 
for  being  the  most  dangerous  bit  of  road  in  Scot- 
land. Mr.  Telford  tamed  it  down,  however,  into 
such  perfect  safety  and  insignificance,  that  modern 
travellers  can  scarcely  credit  the  difficulty  and  haz- 
ard with  which  ten  years  ago  it  was  crossed,  imless 
they  are  shown  the  old  track,  an  almost  perpendi- 
cular line  of  loose  stones  at  the  edge  of  an  airy  pre- 
cipice. On  first  beholding  this  mountainous  road 
since  its  metamorphosis,  I  felt  somewhat  like  the 
fairy  whose  tent  was  turned  into  a  thimble  !  Du- 
ring the   last  century,  whenever  the  late  Earl  of 


22  ORD    OF    CAITHNESS. 

Caithness,  my  grandmother  Lady  Janet  Sinclair,  or 
any  of  the  chief  landed  proprietors,  entered  that 
county,  a  troop  of  their  tenants  assembled  on  the 
border  of  Sutherland,  and  drew  the  carriage  them- 
selves over  the  hill,  a  distance  of  two  miles,  that 
nothing  might  be  trusted  in  such  a  scene  to  the  dis- 
cretion of  quadrupeds.  A  pretty  considerably  nar- 
row, perpendicular  road  skirted  along  the  very  edge 
of  a  precipice  rising  twelve  hundred  feet  abruptly 
out  of  the  ocean,  without  the  smallest  hint  of  a  para- 
pet, and  many  travellers,  seeing  this  formidable  ob- 
stacle, turned  their  horses'  heads  without  proceeding 
to  scale  it.  The  accident-maker  for  the  Dumfries 
Courier  should  settle  for  life  here,  as  there  is  quite 
a  treasury  of  untold  stories  to  be  heard  in  every 
house, — how  the  mail  was  upset  in  one  place,  and 
at  another  how  Lord  DufFus  had  only  time  to 
spring  out  and  save  his  life  before  his  gig  and  horse 
went  over,  and  never  spoke  more.  It  appears  to 
me,  that  gigs  all  come  to  an  untimely  end.  I  never 
yet  saw  a  newspaper,  without  one  or  two  having 
run  off,  and  if  ever  they  are  within  reach  of  a  pre- 
cipice, they  make  a  point  of  going  over.  The  mail- 
coach  now  rattles  down  the  w^hole  descent  of  the 
Ord,  scarcely  deigning  even  to  use  a  drag  ! 

It  is  an  old  established  superstition,  that  none  of 
our  clan  may  cross  the  Ord  on  a  Monday,  because 
on  that  day  of  the  week,  forty  Sinclairs,  command- 


ORD    OF    CAITHNESS.  23 

ed  by  the  Earl  of  Caithness,  ventured  over  to  the 
battle  of  Flodden  Field,  and  not  one  survived  ex- 
cept the  drummer,  who  was  dismissed  before  the 
battle  began.  The  whole  troop  had  dressed  in 
green,  and  since  then  it  is  likewise  considered  fool- 
hardy in  any  one  bearing  the  name  of  Sinclair  to 
wear  green.  I  question  whether  w^e  are  entitled 
even  to  eat  green  peas,  or  to  drink  green  tea,  and 
W'henever  a  Sinclair  loses  his  purse,  it  must  of 
course  have  been  of  the  objectionable  colour. 

When  my  late  father  succeeded  to  his  estate, 
there  w^as  not  a  road,  nor  a  single  cart  in  Caithness, 
and  he  introduced  the  first  highway  when  only  eigh- 
teen years  of  age.  Having  been  taunted  wdth  the 
impossibility  of  carrying  one  over  the  hill  of  Ben- 
cheilt,  he  went  to  the  place  in  person,  assembled 
1260  labourers,  assigned  each  a  separate  spot,  where 
tools  and  provisions  had  already  been  placed,  and 
in  one  single  day,  what  had  only  been  a  rough 
horse-track  in  the  morning,  became  fit  for  carriages 
before  night.  Soon  after,  he  suggested  the  plan  to 
Lord  Melville,  of  obtaining  j£50,000  as  a  grant  by 
Parliament,  from  the  Scotch  forfeited  estates,  to  make 
roads  and  bridges  throughout  the  ultra-northern 
counties,  where  the  drivers  of  cattle  had  to  swim 
with  their  droves  across  the  rivers  when  taking 
them  to  market ;  and  from  the  same  fund  he  ob- 
tained j£8500  for  making  a  harbour  at  Wick. 


24  EERRIDALE. 

A  sixth  part  of  Caithness  belonged  to  my  father 
when  he  came  of  age,  and  he  represented  the  county 
during  more  than  thirty  years.  No  lover  ever  felt 
more  anxious  to  decorate  his  mistress,  than  he  did 
to  adorn  the  barren  wilds  of  his  native  district.  He 
even  persuaded  himself  it  was  beautiful !  As  one 
proof  of  his  zeal,  the  romantic  entrance  to  Caithness 
is  richly  wooded,  for  he  planted  the  hills  of  Berri- 
dale  to  their  very  summits,  and  sold  them  afterwards 
for  little  more  than  it  cost  to  embellish  them.  Two 
salmon  streams  unite  here,  and  flow  round  the  base 
of  these  mountains,  while  the  road  winds  circui- 
tously  down  to  the  very  bottom  of  a  deep  glen, 
where  a  charmingly  situated  inn,  built  when  the 
trees  were  planted,  hes  embosomed  in  wood.  Al- 
most overhanging  this  resting  place,  but  nearly  two 
hundred  feet  higher  up  the  hill,  stands  Langwell, 
now  the  residence  of  Mr.  Donald  Home.  When 
the  late  proprietor,  after  taking  possession  of  his 
recently  purchased  estate,  first  appeared  at  church, 
the  parish  clergyman,  being  gratefully  attached  to 
my  father,  looked  full  in  the  face  of  his  new  auditor, 
and  gave  out  for  his  text  the  fifth  verse  of  the 
seventy-fifth  Psalm,  "  Lift  not  up  your  Horn  on 
high."  The  clergy  in  primitive  times  used  to  de- 
light in  selecting  eccentric  texts.  One  of  Bishop 
Bull's  most  interesting  sermons  is  on  that  verse  of 
St.  Paul's,  "  The  cloak  which  I  left  at  Troas,  bring 


NOTTINGHAM   HOUSE.  25 

with  thee,  and  also  the  books,  but  especially  the 
parchments."  A  very  admirable  one  was  preached 
once  against  lukewarmness,  on  the  text,  "  Ephraim 
is  a  cake  untm^ned;"  and  a  clergyman  not  long 
since  announced  for  his  subject,  '^What  will  this 
babbler  say  ?" 

Some  miles  north  of  Berridale,  stands  the  bluff 
old  Castle  of  Dunbeath,  which  in  old  times  was 
garrisoned  by  the  Marquis  of  Montrose  shortly  before 
his  death.  It  juts  out  into  the  ocean,  with  the  sea 
blast  whistling  through  its  walls,  and  the  bold  dash- 
ing waves  roaring  and  sparkling  at  its  foot.  A 
spurious  attempt  at  trees  in  front,  scorched  with 
cold  till  they  are  perfectly  threadbare,  actually  made 
me  laugh.  Two  rows  had  started  in  a  straight  line 
from  the  road  to  the  house,  but  about  half  way  they 
suddenly  came  to  an  untimely  end.  The  tall,  bare, 
skeleton  trunks,  and  the  perpendicular  branches, 
were  huddled  all  together,  with  a  thin  canopy  of 
foliage  near  the  top,  as  if  they  were  carrying  a  tray 
of  leaves  on  their  heads.  The  effect  was  more 
comical  than  you  can  fancy. 

The  next  place  we  passed  Vv^as  Nottingham 
House,  a  large  bleak  lonely  mansion,  belonging  to 
the  male  representative  of  the  Sutherland  family, 
who  would  have  inherited  that  ancient  earldom, 
for  which  his  predecessors  had  a  law-suit,  endeav- 
ouring to  prove  that  the  Earls  of  Sutherland  for 
3 


56  WICK. 

three  centuries  had  all  been  usurpers,  but  like  most 
old  Scotch  titles,  this  was  impartially  settled  in  the 
female  line.  Nottingham  House  used  formerly  to 
be  in  sad  disrepair,  and  the  late  proprietor  was 
overheard  once,  when  a  visiter  unexpectedly  arrived, 
calling  loudly  to  his  servant,  "  Bring  me  a  fork  to 
open  the  drawing-room  door  !"  Many  of  the  win- 
dows were  at  that  time  built  up,  and  a  clergyman 
who  slept  there  one  night  previous  to  preaching  in 
the  parish  church,  got  up  next  morning  and  opened 
his  shutters,  but  seeing  no  light,  he  retired  to  bed, 
wondering  much  what  had  disturbed  him  so  early. 
Unable  to  sleep,  he  watched  impatiently  for  the 
first  glimpse  of  dawn,  thinking  that  certainly  a  sleep- 
less night  was  a  very  tedious  affair,  when  at  length 
the  clerk  rushed  into  his  room,  saying  that  the  w^hole 
congregation  were  assembled  in  their  pews,  and  had 
waited  impatiently  for  some  time ! 

Wick  is  a  sea-port,  so  fragrant  with  fish,  that 
when  we  entered  I  thought  of  your  brother's  voyage 
in  a  herring  smack,  when  the  seats  were  barrels  of 
herrings,  and  the  staircase  from  the  cabin  formed  by 
piles  of  casks.  One  year,  many  fields  in  Caithness 
were  manured  with  herrings ;  but  none  of  the  pro- 
prietors find  the  perfume  so  oppressive  as  strangers 
do,  because  these  fisheries  are  the  chief  sources  of 
their  wealth,  only  reaped  within  the  last  half  cen- 
tury, when  my  father  advanced  money  himself,  that 


WICK. 


27 


the  inhabitants  might  try  their  first  experiment  of 
fishing  on  these  coasts,  and  now  14,000  Caithness 
fishermen  are  in  constant  employment  gathering  in 
their  annual  harvest  of  herrings.  My  very  letter 
will  smell  of  fish,  if  I  say  another  syllable  about 
it,  but  the  flavour  cannot  be  very  injurious  to  health, 
as  I  have  this  evening  drank  tea  with  an  interesting 
old  lady  who  has  lived  here  ninety-nine  years. 
During  that  period  she  has  been  a  warm-hearted 
friend  to  three  generations  of  our  family  in  succes- 
sion, so  you  may  suppose  it  was  .with  no  ordinary 
feelings  that  I  went  to  the  house.  Her  first  recep- 
tion of  me  was  in  the  true  Highland  fashion,  saying, 
with  an  expression  of  touching  retrospection,  "  Your 
father's  daughter  is  welcome ;"  and  after  ascer- 
taining that  all  our  family  were  well,  she  added  in 
a  tone  of  earnest  feeling,  "  They  cannot  be  better 
than  I  wish  them."  There  w^as  something  almost 
Ossianic  in  the  tone  of  her  language;  and  it  is 
pleasing  to  see  not  only  the  faculties,  but  also  the 
affections,  perfectly  fresh  and  perfectly  wide  awake 
at  so  advanced  a  period  of  life.  It  had  all  the  so- 
lemnity of  a  voice  from  the  dead,  when  she  spoke 
of  former  days,  and  of  friends  long  departed,  whose 
very  existence  seemed  to  me  a  tale  of  other  times. 

When  the  Romans  cursed  an  enemy,  it  was  in 
these  words,  "May  you  survive  all  your  friends 
and  relations."     How  often  I  have  thought  it  would 


2S  WICK, 

be  the  saddest  feeling  of  extreme  old  age,  to  see 
"  friend  after  friend  depart," — the  lights  one  by  one 
extinguished  which  enlivened  onr  early  days,  and  to 
think  that  those  connections  on  whose  kindness  we 
are  finally  cast  wdll  seem  cheerless  and  remote,  if 
none  remain  who  can  remember  that  we  were  ever 
yomig,  happy,  and  beloved,  and  who  have  known 
nothing  of  us  but  the  dark  evening  of  a  life  so  full 
of  sorrows  and  infii'mities,  that  it  would  scarcely 
seem  a  duty  to  weep  over  its  close  !  The  three  mes- 
sengers of  death  are  accident,  sickness,  and  old  age, 
all  unwelcome  w  hen  they  come,  but  the  last  is  that 
w^hich  requires  most  sympathy,  and  too  often  excites 
the  least,  for  the  reverence  paid  in  ancient  times  to 
venerable  years  is  not  now  universal,  having  given 
place  in  a  lamentable  degree  to  indifference,  and 
even  to  ridicule,  though  in  many  instances,  a  satir- 
ical feeling  is  excited,  not  without  justice,  against 
those  who  will  not  grow  old  with  a  good  grace,  and 
who  never  ask  themselves,  in  the  language  of  Scrip- 
ture, "  How  old  art  thou  ?"  When  I  see  aged  persons 
vainly  struggling  to  keep  up  the  semblance  of  youth, 
that  text  sometimes  occurs  to  my  recollection,  "  Gray 
hairs  are  here  and  there  upon  him,  and  he  knoweth 
it  not."  The  celebrated  wit.  Lord  Norbmy,  de- 
termined to  have  his  laugh  to  the  last,  laid  a  bet  of 
c£100  with  his  cotemporary,  the  late  Marquis  of 
Drogheda,  which  would  survive.     Both  were  taken 


WICK.  29 

ill  at  once,  and  Lord  Norbury,  who  lingered  longest, 
gained  the  money,  but  remarked,  that  he  thought 
it  would  have  turned  out  "  a  dead  heat."  The 
average  of  human  existence  is  said  to  be  nearly 
double  in  Britain  what  it  is  in  Naples !  Old  Mrs. 
Butler,  whom  you  remember  in  Edinburgh  walking 
often  more  than  a  mile  to  see  me,  was  ascertained 
to  be  one  hundred  and  ten  when  she  died,  but  life 
at  such  an  extreme  age  is  like  a  flower  without 
root,  the  first  blast  lays  it  low :  and  in  taking  leave 
of  our  aged  and  respected  friend  at  Wick,  I  felt  a 
solemnizing  consciousness  that  both  shall  pass  into 
another,  and  I  trust  a  better  world,  before  we  meet 
again. 

There  everlasting  spring  abides, 
And  never  withering  flow'rs  ; 
Death  like  a  narrow  sea  divides 
This  heav'nly  land  from  ours. 


WICK, 


I  like  the  weather  when  it's  not  too  cold, 

That  is,  I  like  three  months  in  all  the  year. 

Byron. 

My  dear  Cousin, — We  may  say  here,  like  Lord 
Dudley,  that  the  summer  has  set  in  with  its  usual  se- 
verity !  July  and  August  have  forgotten  themselves 
completely,  and  turned  a  cold  shoulder  to  all  their 
old  friends  and  admirers.  In  this  country  the  leaves 
have  at  all  times  a  short  reign,  but  this  year  they 
were  frightened  to  death  by  a  frost,  soon  after  they 
appeared,  looking  scorched  and  lifeless  now,  espe- 
cially the  fir  tribe,  which  put  up  with  cold  blasts 
w^orse  than  many  that  seem  less  hardy. 

If  travellers  w^ould  only  condescend  to  forget  that 
there  are  such  things  as  trees  in  the  world,  they  could 
not  but  admire  the  bold  coast  scenery  of  Caithness, 
and  we  walked  three  miles  from  Wick  this  morning 
in  search  of  tw^o  very  strange  and  tottering  old  sea- 
beaten  ruins,  which  have  bid  defiance  to  the  waves 
for  many  centuries.  The  Castles  of  Sinclair  and 
Girnigo  are  but  little  known,  though  well  w^orth 
making  acquaintance  with,  being  so  remote  and  so 
retired  from  public  life,  that  few  tomists  are  aware 


CASTLE    GIENIGO.  31 

of  their  merit.  These  time-worn  remnants  stand 
side  by  side,  and  the  oldest  wears  well,  while  the 
other  is  a  mere  wreck,  yet  the  entire  mass  is  mag- 
nificent, towering  out  of  the  broad  ocean  in  a  noble 
and  commanding  style.  The  situation  is  very  dig- 
nified and  impressive.  A  natural  wall  of  perpen- 
dicular rock,  about  sixty  feet  high,  runs  out  like  a 
long  pier  into  the  ocean,  surrounded  on  three  sides 
by  a  boiling  foam  of  waves,  struggling  forward,  and 
lashing  themselves  in  ceaseless  fury  at  its  base.  On 
the  utmost  verge  of  this  point,  and  scarcely  to  be 
distinguished  from  the  natural  masonry  of  rock,  stands 
the  massy  wall  of  Castle  Girnigo,  still  about  five 
stories  high,  and  looking  almost  habitable,  the  win- 
dows, doors,  and  loop-holes,  being  faced  "v^dth  red 
free-stone,  conspicuously  seen  amidst  the  surround- 
ing mass  of  sea-green  walls.  A  curious  subterra- 
nean staircase  descends  far  beneath  the  level  of  the 
tide,  and  a  narrow  concealed  passage  under  ground 
leads  to  a  creek  where  the  waves  beat  in  with  angry 
vehemence,  and  where  a  boat  was  formerly  hid,  in 
which  the  family  of  Lord  Caithness  escaped  when 
the  fortress  was  besieged  and  about  to  be  taken. 

A  tall  tottering  fragment  of  Castle  Sinclair  rears 
its  venerable  head  on  high,  looking  nearly  as  unsafe  as 
the  pillars  of  brick  built  by  children,  which  cannot 
be  balanced  above  five  minutes,  and  yet  not  a  stone 
has  fallen  within  the  memory  of  the  oldest  man  in 


32  WICK.    - 

the  parish.  There  is  an  "oldest  man"  in  all  par- 
ishes, who  remembers  every  thing,  and  vouches  for 
all  remarkable  facts. 

The  family  motto  of  Lord  Caithness  is,  "  Com- 
mit thy  work  to  God."  It  seems  rather  inappro- 
priate to  an  earl  of  ancient  times,  know^n  as  "  George 
the  wicked,"  w^ho  became  chancellor  of  Scotland, 
and  lived  a  great  part  of  his  long  and  atrocious  life 
within  the  walls  of  Girnigo  Castle,  where  we  saw 
the  room  in  which  his  second  son,  William  Sinclair, 
was  slain  by  his  own  eldest  brother  John,  w^ho  bruised 
him  to  death  with  his  fetters  during  his  imprison- 
ment there,  and  where  the  earl  cruelly  starved  to 
death  his  eldest  son.  He  himself  died  at  Edinburgh, 
and  his  body  lies  interred  at  Roslin  Chapel ;  but  he 
desired  that  his  heart — such  as  it  was — should  be 
buried  in  a  handsome  cemetery,  raised  in  honour  of 
his  murdered  son,  and  which  still  remains,  forming 
an  ornament  to  the  city  of  Wick,  v^here  so  much 
hospitality  now  prevails,  that  we  saw  little  danger 
of  any  one  being  starved  in  the  present  day.  Caith- 
ness piques  itself  on  giving  the  best  breakfasts  in 
Scotland,  and  I  wish  you  could  have  accompanied 
us  to  the  manse  this  morning,  where  every  guest 
would  require  half-a-dozen  appetites  to  achieve  what 
his  knife  and  fork  are  expected  to  do.  The  lady 
who  said  her  appetite  required  to  be  amused,  should 
have  taken  her  place  here,  surrounded  by  all  the 


WICK.  33 

dishes  peculiar  to  a  Highland  dijeune.  You  would 
be  much  surprised  at  seeing  the  Caithness  geese, 
w  hich  are  smoked  and  salted  like  Westphalia  hams, 
and  are  said  to  sharpen  the  appetite  amazingly, 
though  a  gentleman  once  complained  that  he  did 
not  find  it  so,  having  picked  the  bones  of  one,  with- 
out feeling  a  whit  more  hungry  ! 

In  the  parish  of  Wick  may  be  seen  the  truth  of 
Dr.  Chalmers's  remark,  that  "  a  house-going  minister 
makes  a  church-going  people."  Nothing  can  ex- 
ceed the  reverence  w^hich  every  Christian  here  de- 
lights in  testifying  towards  the  zealous,  able,  and 
loDg-tried  servant  of  God  who  officiates  among  them. 
It  is  anxiously  hoped,  that  one  so  fitted  to  guide 
others,  may  long  be  spared  himself;  but  having  been 
lately  in  precarious  health,  Mr.  Phin  fainted  twice 
last  Sunday  in  the  pulpit.  The  use  of  restoratives 
revived  him  the  first  time,  and  he  resumed  the  ser- 
vice, but  a  few  minutes  afterwards  he  had  a  more 
prolonged  attack,  which  obliged  him  to  desist,  and 
the  congregation  dispersed,  many  of  them  in  tears. 
Next  morning  the  manse  gate  was  besieged  by  par- 
ishioners, eagerly  inquiring  how^  he  had  passed  the 
night,  and  several  old  women  forced  their  way  into 
the  house,  w^ith  various  infallible  nostrums  to  cure 
his  disorder,  but  unanimous  in  only  one  point,  which 
w^as,  in  earnestly  admonishing  him  to  "  take  nothing 
the   doctor  ordered !"     Here   the   common  people 


34  WICK. 

have  a  superstitious  horror  of  the  faculty,  being  per- 
fectly convinced,  that,  like  rat-catchers,  they  bring 
the  evil  they  profess  to  cure ;  and  three  years  ago, 
an  Edinburgh  apothecary  narrowly  escaped  with 
his  hfe,  being  suspected  of  importing  the  cholera  to 
Wick  in  his  pill-box. 

From  the  manse  windows,  Mr.  Phin  pointed  out 
to  me  a  newly  erected  "  Popish  chapel,"  which  he 
looked  at  as  if  it  were  a  mine  dug  under  the  town, 
and  ready  to  explode.  If  the  rapid  extension  of 
Roman  Catholic  influence  were  regarded  with  the 
same  salutary  horror  in  quarters  where  it  may  yet 
prove  more  dangerous,  we  might  indeed  rejoice,  for 
it  is  an  alarming  circumstance  to  a  Protestant  na- 
tion, if  anything  can  thoroughly  alarm  us,  that  such 
edifices  are  arising  in  every  part  of  Scotland,  though 
fortunately  they  are  as  yet  only  like  traps  set  to 
catch  a  congregation, — the  casket  without  the 
jewels, — not  being  yet,  in  most  instances,  supplied 
with  audiences.  This  very  small  chapellette  at 
Wick  is  only  attended  by  a  few  soldiers'  wdves  from 
Ireland,  and  the  funds  for  raising  it  were  in  no  de- 


Since  writing  the  above,  this  exemplary  minister  of  Christ 
has  been  called  into  the  presence  of  that  almighty  Being,  in 
a  better  world,  whom  he  so  faithfully  served  upon  earth. 
His  last  hours  were  full  of  hope,  peace,  and  Christian  resig- 
nation ;  and  amidst  the  heartfelt  grief  of  his  numerous  con- 
gregation, it  may  still  be  said,  "  He  being  dead,  yet  speaketh." 


WICK.  35 

gree  contributed  by  Caithness.  It  has  been  conjec- 
tured that  the  Papists  wished  to  boast  of  their 
dominion  reaching  to  every  extremity  of  Britain; 
but  I  hope  w^e  shall  never  come  quite  to  Archbishop 
Magee's  antithesis  about  the  Irish,  when  he  offended 
all  parties  by  saying,  that  they  have  "  a  church 
without  a  religion,  and  a  religion  without  a  church!" 
At  the  ancient  house  of  Kilravock,  which  I  have 
already  described,  there  is  now  to  be  seen  a  bull, 
signed  by  the  Pope's  own  hand,  granting  plenary 
remission  of  all  their  sins,  to  Colonel  Rose's  family, 
and  to  every  branch  of  his  house,  from  the  date  of 
this  document,  to  a  period  of  which  there  are  still 
about  forty  years  to  run ;  but  I  am  happy  to  under- 
stand that  none  of  this  family  have  yet  taken  any 
very  extraordinary  advantage  of  their  uncommon 
privileges. 

Tw^o  ladies  of  rank  in  different  parts  of  Scotland, 
within  the  last  three  years,  have  each  built  a  chapel, 
entirely  at  her  own  expense,  as  large  as  the  parish 
church.  One  of  them,  raised  by  the  present  Duchess 
of  Leeds,  I  saw,  the  architecture  of  which,  like  that 
of  all  Popish  buildings,  is  beautiful.  It  should  be 
the  ambition  of  Protestants,  to  out-church,  out-pray, 
and  out-preach  those  zealous  sectarians,  for  w^e  are 
too  apt  to  regard  Roman  Catholic  supremacy,  and 
Roman  Catholic  persecutions  as  a  tale  of  other 
times,  totally  extinct  now,  like  the  superstitions  of 


36  STIRKOKE. 

ghosts  and  witchcraft,  which  I  trust  may  be  the 
case  ;  but  one  would  wish  on  such  a  subject,  as 
Shakspeare  says,  "  to  make  assurance  doubly  sure," 
leaving  those  who  advocate  the  worse  cause. 

To  prove  their  doctrine  orthodox, 
By  apostolic  blows  and  knocks. 

If  we  had  a  horticultural  show  in  Caithness, 
every  prize  ought  to  be  gained  by  the  gardener  at 
Stirkoke,  where  an  unusual  variety  of  flowers  has 
been  enlisted  into  the  service,  and  the  proprietor, 
Mr.  Home,  w^ages  a  perpetual  and  successful  war 
against  the  northern  blasts.  Rhododendrons  are 
there  in  splendid  flower,  dwarf  rhododendrons  in  a 
blaze  of  blossoms,  and  pansies  equal  to  any  I  have 
seen  elsewhere.  The  Russian  cranberry  is  expected 
some  time  or  other  to  produce  fruit ;  the  camellias 
are  doing  their  very  best  to  live ;  the  fir-trees  are 
not  yet  perfectly  dead ;  sixty  acres  of  hard  wood 
in  every  variety  are  very  thriving ;  the  forest  trees 

have  grown  so  tall,  that  A could  not  touch  the 

top  of  them  with  his  umbrella  ;  and  a  most  beauti- 
ful green-house  is  glowing  with  geraniums,  fuschias, 
passion-flowers,  musk-plants,  and  balsams,  besides 
which,  in  the  open  air,  we  observed  several  exotics 
from  the  south,  such  as  wall-flowers,  honeysuckles, 
jessamine,  &c.  &c.  In  short,  it  is  astonishing  how 
much   embellishment  may   be   effected   by  perse- 


STIRKOKE.  .  37 

verance  and  enterprise,  for  the  general  aspect  of 
Stirkoke  is  quite  verdant,  the  house  not  much  over- 
topping the  trees,  and  the  leaves  almost  as  green  in 
July,  as  we  generally  see  them  in  October.  In 
some  places  nearer  the  sea  it  was  very  different,  for 
the  unhappy  looking  forests  resembled  an  old  broom 
turned  up,  and  a  stranger  remarked,  there  was  not 
a  tree  in  Caithness  on  which  any  one  who  was  tired 
of  life,  could  hang  himself. 

In  the  plantations  at  Stirkoke,  we  started  a  fine 
covey  of  young  pheasants,  probably  the  most  north- 
ern colony  of  these  birds  in  the  world.  A  noble 
looking  red  deer  also  was  tethered  in  the  park, 
looking  so  quiet  and  domestic,  that  it  seemed  curious 
to  think  what  days  of  toil  and  sleepless  nights  a 
sportsman  would  gladly  have  endured,  to  see  the 
mere  tips  of  his  horns,  but  there  he  stood  safe  from 
every  gun,  though  ready  to  be  shot  at  the  short- 
est notice.  A  French  cook  in  the  Highlands  some 
years  ago,  sent  up  the  most  magnificent  dinner,  made 
entirely  of  red-deer  venison,  and  no  one  could  have 
found  out  how  nearly  all  the  various  dishes  were 
connected,  but  the  second  course  must  have  been 
rather  defective,  consisting  only  of  hartshorn  jelly. 
The  fi^avour  is  rather  powerful,  but  a  Frenchman 
can  disguise  any  thing,  or  cook  a  white  leather 
glove  into  a  palatable  morsel,  never  being  reduced 
to  quite  such  straits  as  the  Scotch  housekeeper  you 
4 


38  STIRKOKE. 

told  me  of,  who,  trusting  to  the  impunity  with 
which  her  ungainly  sicle-clishes  usually  escaped  un- 
tasted  from  the  dining-room,  and  finding  herself  at 
a  loss  to  fill  up  one  corner  of  the  table,  sent  up  a 
finely  formed  shape  of  porridge  under  a  white  sauce. 
Nothing  makes  cheerfulness  flow^  in  upon  the 
spirits  more  certainly  than  travelling, — the  con- 
stantly varying  panorama  of  new  ideas  and  new 
subjects  of  interest,  besides  a  fair  opportunity  for 
grumbling  whenever  you  feel  in  the  humour,  which, 
I  am  convinced,  is  a  great  luxury  to  some  travellers, 
from  the  frequent  use  they  make  of  it.  We  all 
wish  to  be  either  envied  or  pitied ;  and  at  present  I 
could  make  out  a  very  good  case  either  way,  ac- 
cording to  the  representation  of  our  pleasures  or 
difficulties  on  the  road  ;  but  I  am  always  for  view- 
ing the  bright  side  of  every  thing,  and  never  would 
wish  to  look  at  the  sun  as  philosophers  do,  merely 
to  discover  the  spots. 

Having  now  sent  you  three  sheets  of  the  best 
superfine  Bath  post,  it  is  time  to  economize  my 
stationery,  and  to  w4sh  you  a  safe  journey  through 
what  I  have  already  written ;  therefore,  with  best 
w^ishes,  adieu ;  and,  as  the  poet,  whoever  he  was, 
very  sensibly  remarks, 

**  An  adieu  should  in  utterance  die. 

When  written  should  faintly  appear, 

Only  heard  in  the  sob  of  a  sigh, 

Or  seen  in  the  blot  of  a  tear.'' 


CAITHNESS. 


To  gain  his  purpose,  he  performed  the  part 
Of  a  good  actor,  and  prepared  to  start. 

My  dear  Cousin, — Letter-writing  brings  forth 
the  dormant  ideas  that  would  otherwise  slumber  in 
our  minds,  and  arranges  them  before  us,  like  nine- 
pins out  of  a  box.  Mine  tumble  out  so  miscellane- 
ously, that  they  will  not  be  very  easily  drilled  into 
order ;  but  I  hope  you  may  be  sufficiently  interested 
to  grope  your  way  on  with  me.  As  Bishop  Hall 
says,  "  curiosity  is  the  appetite  of  the  mind,"  so  we 
shall  suppose  you  are  perfectly  dying  of  it  now,  and 
require  as  much  mental  food  as  our  travels  can  pos- 
sibly supply. 

One  of  the  best  farmers  in  this  county,  my 
brother's  tenant,  Mr.  Gunn,  is  the  fifteenth  in  regu- 
lar descent,  from  father  to  son,  who  has  occupied 
the  same  land  !  He  has  six  sons,  all  skilful  agri- 
culturists, several  of  whom  have  already  made  them- 
selves comfortably  independent,  and  his  mode  of  in- 
structing them  in  business  is  uncommon,  as  well  as 
extremely  judicious.  The  beautiful  and  romantic 
httle  farm  of  Dalmore,  which  he  rents  from  Sir 


40  CAITHNESS'. 

George,  has  been  sub-let  to  each  of  his  sons  in  suc- 
cession as  they  grew  up,  and  there  they  serve  an 
apprenticeship  in  the  management  of  this  small  con- 
cern, for  which  their  father  exacts  the  full  value. 
He  annually  purchases  their  stock,  and  drives  as 
close  a  bargain  with  his  sons  as  if  they  were 
strangers,  until  each  is  thoroughly  versed  in  all  the 
mysteries  of  the  field  and  of  the  market-place.  Two 
of  these  young  men  made  six  thousand  pounds  last 
year  in  Sutherlandshire,  by  the  sale  of  sheep  and 
wool ;  so  farmers  need  scarcely  emigrate  to  Austra- 
lia to  make  fortunes  in  that  line  :  and  affluence  may 
still  be  realized  at  home,  by  those  who  have  pru- 
dence and  industry.  It  was  the  saying,  long  ago, 
of  a  person  who  knew  the  world  better  than  either 
you  or  I,  that  "  many  succeed  by  talent,  many  by  a 
miracle,  but  most  people  by  beginning  without  a 
shilling  !" 

Since  we  arrived  in  Caithness,  the  eldest  of  these 
promising  young  men  has  been  suddenly  cut  off,  at 
the  early  age  of  twenty-five,  by  the  small-pox,  which 
occasions  a  deep  sensation  of  sympathy  and  sorrow 
throughout  the  whole  county  ;  and  many  of  the 
chief  proprietors  assembled  at  his  funeral,  as  well  as 
an  immense  concourse  of  people,  to  testify  their  res- 
pect and  regret.  Fifty  years  since  the  proprietors 
in  this  county  scarcely  improved  an  acre  a-year, 
but  now  several  East  Lothian  farmers  have  found  it 


THURSO.  41 

worth  while  to  take  land  in  this  neighbourhood  for 
feeding  young  cattle  ;  and  one  of  them  has  brought 
a  sister  with  him  to  manage  his  household  affairs, 
who  sets  an  example,  that  I  hope  may  be  followed 
by  all  the  pianoforte-playing  farmeresses  in  Scotland, 
as  she  personally  assists  in  every  variety  of  active 
employment  suited  to  her  station.  I  was  told  that 
all  the  milk  in  the  dairy  is  taken  to  her  every  morn- 
ing, and  is  never  seen  again  till  she  has  churned  it 
into  butter  ;  and  then  the  profits  of  her  poultry-yard, 
which  amount  in  most  places  to  considerably  less 
than  nothing,  are,  by  her  skilful  management,  suf- 
ficient to  pay  for  all  the  tea  and  groceries  used  in 
her  brother's  house. 

The  drive  from  Wick  to  Thurso  is  about  twenty 
miles  long,  through  a  highly  cultivated  country-, 
where  fields  of  the  richest  grain,  and  substantial 
farm-houses,  ornament  the  scene ;  but  the  less  we 
say  the  better  about  beauty,  for  the  road  is  as  level 
and  as  treeless  as  your  drawing-room  floor.  A  folio 
page  is  now  in  existence,  attested  by  the  clergy  and 
gardeners  in  the  county,  containing  an  exact  cata- 
logue of  all  the  trees  growing  in  Caithness  a  hun- 
dred years  ago,  in  which  even  the  currant-bushes 
are  recorded ;  but  since  then,  by  the  indefatigable 
exertions  of  Mr.  Traill,  the  late  Earl  of  Caithness, 
and  my  father,  the  woods  and  forests  could  not  so 
easily  give  a  census  of  their  population.  Some  of 
4* 


42  THURSO. 

our  own,  at  a  distance,  look  very  like  tattered  um- 
brellas ! 

The  first  view  of  Thurso  from  the  south,  in  a 
fine  day,  is  exceedingly  striking  and  beautiful,  in- 
cluding the  gigantic  headlands  of  Orkney.  The 
"  Old  man  of  Hoy"  standing  a  thousand  feet  above 
the  sea ;  the  Pentland  Frith  connecting  the  Atlantic 
and  German  Oceans,  and  sprinkled  with  a  multitude 
of  ships ;  the  tall  abrupt  rocks  of  Holbourn  Head  ; 
the  charming  bay  of  Scrabster,  considered  the  best 
harbour  on  this  coast ;  the  river  sweeping  through 
the  town  ;  the  elegant  bridge ;  the  new  church, 
larger  than  any  north  of  Inverness ;  the  bright  yel- 
low sands ;  the  numerous  villas  and  farm-houses ; 
and  though  last,  certainly  not  least,  the  ancient 
towers  of  Thurso  Castle,  built  by  George  Earl  of 
Caithness,  in  1660,  and  belonging  since  1718  to  our 
family,  now  represented  by  the  county  member.  Sir 
George  Sinclair. 

I  was  amused  to  hear  that  some  English  travel- 
lers inquired  once  at  the  Thurso  inn,  whether  there 
were  many  fine  pictures  at  this  castle,  when  the 
waiter,  who  had  never  beheld  any  others,  confi- 
dently replied,  that  the  collection  was  first-rate, 
very  old,  and  well  worth  seeing.  The  connoiseurs 
hastened  over  accordingly,  their  heads  filled  with 
Corregios  and  Titians,  when,  melancholy  to  relate, 
not  so  much  as  a  single  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  or 


THURSO    CASTLE.  43 

Jameson  rewarded  their  pains,  but  merely  eight 
generations  of  very  formal  looking  ancestors,  appear- 
ing exactly  like  every  other  person's  ancestors,  the 
most  remote  portraits  exhibiting  the  smallest  waists 
and  largest  wigs,  while  they  all  became  less  exag- 
gerated towards  our  own  time. 

A  recent  addition  has  been  made  to  Thurso 
Castle,  planned  and  executed  by  Burn,  the  cobbler- 
general  of  worn-out  houses,  by  whom  ancient  edifices 
are  mended,  cleaned,  dyed,  and  repaired,  to  look 
as  good  as  new,  or  even  better.  When  A per- 
ceived flaws  in  the  architecture  of  several  old  castles 
lately,  he  wished  they  were  all  "  Burn'd"  like  ours. 
Certainly  the  situation  here  is  somewhat  uncom- 
mon. In  former  times,  showers  of  spray  from  the 
ocean  used  to  dash  up  to  our  drawing-room  window, 
when  the  waves,  curling  and  grating  along  the 
shore,  sometimes  struck  at  the  foundation  with  ani- 
mated vehemence,  and  rebounded  among  the  rocks, 
till  at  length  a  breakwater  was  raised  to  defend  the 
wall.  My  grandmother  Lady  Janet  used  to  describe, 
that  many  years  ago,  when  sitting  by  her  own  fire- 
side, a  vessel  was  wrecked  off  the  coast,  so  near  the 
turrets,  that  she  could  hear  the  people's  voices,  yet 
though  every  effort  was  used  on  behalf  of  the  crew, 
"  to  yield  them  hope,  whom  help  could  never 
reach,"  not  a  life  was  saved  from  the  wreck  ! 

You  might  have  imagined,  that  in  such  a  posi- 


44  THURSO    CASTLE. 

tion  as  I  have  described,  this  house  was  near  enough 
to  the  sea,  but  my  father  hked  the  pecuUarity  of 
being  so  intimate  with  the  wild  winds  and  waves, 
so  he  caused  a  strong  pier  to  be  raised  between  the 
old  castle  and  the  water,  on  which  Mr.  Burn  has 
contrived  securely  to  perch  a  terrace  walk  and  an 
appendix  to  the  building.  I  hope  it  may  turn  out 
as  long-lived  as  the  Irishman's  railway,  which  was 
to  last  for  ever,  and  might  afterwards  be  sold  for 
old  iron. 

Several  very  handsome  new  apartments  are  here, 
from  the  windows  of  which  I  can  at  this  moment 
count  a  procession  of  twenty  vessels  in  full  sail, 
some  of  which  come  so  close,  they  are  tacking  into 
the  very  room,  while  the  stormy  surge  beats  up  so 
near  to  where  I  sit,  that  it  seems  to  undermine  the 
very  floor.  We  had  a  dispute  here  once,  whether 
the  bright  blue  ocean,  sprinkled  with  white  sails, 
was  not  as  beautiful  an  object,  as  a  green  park 
dotted  with  trees,  besides  being  fully  more  varied, 
and  I  wish  you  w^ere  present  to  award  us  the  supe- 
riority. The  roughest  and  strongest  tide  on  the 
Scotch  coast  is  through  the  Pentland  Frith,  running 
at  the  rate  of  nine  miles  an  hour.  It  is  what  our 
old  housekeeper  calls  "  a  contramaceous  and  cantan- 
kerous sea  ;"  and  on  the  opposite  coast  of  Holbourn 
Head  and  Orkney,  where  the  time-worn  rocks  stand 
up  as  straight  as  an  arrow,  the  waves  are  leaping 


THURSO    CASTLE.  45 

ten  or  twenty  feet  high,  becoming  so  perfectly  white 
with  foam,  they  look  like  apparitions  starting  out  of 
the  w^ater,  and  vanishing  again,  while  the  vessels 
flitting  silently  and  tracklessly  along,  like  wreaths 
of  mist  at  the  horizon,  are  now  and  then  lighted  up 
by  a  brilliant  gleam  of  sunshine  shed  upon  the 
water,  as  if  a  path  of  glory  were  stretched  across, 
which  it  would  be  a  long  day's  journey  to  pass 
over. 

On  the  beach  of  Thurso  may  now"  be  seen  the 
hulk  of  a  ship  wrecked  under  our  windows  last 
winter,  and  many  tragical  accidents  have  occurred 
at  various  times  to  the  little  herring  vessels,  foity  of 
w^hich  pass  this  way  in  the  evening,  dancing  on  the 
waves  so  perfectly  joyous  and  safe  looking,  that  last 
night  I  had  actually  the  courage  to  wish  myself  on 
board  of  one.  Nothing  can  be  more  like  the  life  of 
a  gambler  than  that  of  a  fisherman.  Sometimes 
they  make  ten  pounds  at  a  single  haul,  and  often 
not  tenpence  in  a  day.  I  was  particularly  sorry  for 
one  Caithness  fisherman  this  year,  who  had  caught 
sixty  crans,  each  equal  to  a  barrel  of  herrings,  at  a 
single  draught,  worth  about  <£30,  but  wishing  to 
complete  the  hundred  crans,  he  tried  another  suc- 
cessful pull,  which  sunk  his  boat,  worth  jGIOO, 
carried  away  his  net,  and  left  the  unfortunate  specu- 
lator with  nothing  but  his  life  remaining.  How 
constantly  we  are  reminded,  that  "  slow  and  sure" 


46  THURSO    CASTLE. 

is  the  best  rule  in  pursuing  wealth,  and  that  we 
crush  the  butterfly  by  snatching  at  it  too  eagerly. 

When  the  present  Duke  of  Sutherland  dined 
many  years  ago  at  Thurso  Castle,  our  fishermen  were 
eager  to  prove  the  productiveness  of  this  coast ; 
therefore  two  and  tw^enty  different  kinds  of  fish  were 
placed  on  table  at  once,  including  salmon,  cod, 
turbot,  ling,  tusk,  haddock,  and  every  thing  that 
swims,  besides  an  odd  fish,  called,  from  its  resem- 
blance to  the  feline  species,  the  cat-fish,  and  consid- 
ered a  great  delicacy,  though  not  a  veiy  prepossess- 
ing one.  The  salmon-fishing  for  this  river  was  then 
let  for  jGlOOO  a  year.  It  is  recorded  in  the  parish 
books  of  Thurso,  that  in  1786,  no  less  than  2560 
salmon  were  taken  out  of  the  river  at  one  sweep  of  the 
net !  Such  is  the  violence  of  the  tides  at  sea,  when 
the  billows  get  into  a  rage  during  stormy  weather, 
that  cod  and  ling  are,  by  the  force  of  the  waves, 
frequently  thrown  alive  upon  the  shores  at  Canisbay. 

It  is  pleasing,  in  this  remote  country,  to  see  so 
universal  a  confidence  in  the  safety  of  life  and  pro- 
perty !  Not  a  door  or  a  window  is  fastened  at  night, 
nor  a  shutter  closed,  and  no  means  of  defence  pro- 
vided, not  even  so  much  as  a  red-hot  poker.  The 
old  alarm-bell  is  speechless,  and  Oliver  Twist  might 
be  thrust  into  the  butler's  pantry  at  any  hour  of  the 
night  or  day,  without  danger  or  difl&culty.  No  pro- 
vision being  made  in  Scotland  for  the  maintenance 


THURSO   CASTLE.  47 

and  confinement  of  insane  persons,  an  old  woman 
used,  when  I  was  here  last,  to  haunt  this  house, 
causing  great  annoyance  to  its  inhabitants,  by  con- 
cealing herself  under  the  beds,  or  in  the  closets.  A 
lady  on  one  occasion,  hearing  the  drawers  in  her 
dressing-room  opening  and  shutting  most  unaccount- 
ably, as  it  appeared,  of  their  own  accord,  hurried  in 
to  ascertain  the  cause,  and  found  this  poor  maniac 
nearly  imdressed,  and  shaking  out  all  her  gowns  to 
select  the  one  she  liked  best  for  herself  This  un- 
fortunate creature  on  another  occasion  stole  up  to 
the  top  of  a  turret,  where  the  maids  were  assembled, 
locked  up  the  whole  establishment,  and  threw  the 
key  into  Thurso  river,  intending  to  keep  them  in 
perpetual  imprisonment ;  and  thus  no  hour  of  the 
night  or  day  was  secure  from  her  incursions,  some- 
times in  anger  and  sometimes  in  jest.  These  two 
states  of  mind  border  very  closely  on  each  other,  in 
cases  of  derangement,  of  which  I  know  one  very 

curious  instance.     When  the  Duchess  of first 

showed  symptoms  of  insanity,  she  was  sitting  with 
our  friend  Lady at  dinner  tete-a-tete,  appa- 
rently in  great  spirits  and  good  humour,  during  which 
she  occasionally  made  little  pellets  of  bread,  and 
fillipped  them  across  the  table  at  her  companion, 
w^ho  at  length  took  up  the  jest,  and  did  likewise,  on 
observing  w^hich,  the  Duchess  instantly  started  up 
with  flaming   eyes,  seized  the  carving-knife,  and 


48  THURSO   CASTLE. 

hurried  furiously  toward  her  companion.    Lady 

fled  for  her  hfe,  and  she  used  to  make  her  auditors 
tremble  when  describing  her  flight  through  the  long 

narrow  passages  of Castle,  and  how  she  saw  the 

tall  figure  of  the  Duchess  in  a  white  dress,  striding 
along  and  brandishing  the  knife  in  her  hands.  For- 
tunately Lady reached    a   distant   door,  and 

locked  herself  up,  but  there  she  remained  in  a  state 
of  sieo-e  for  several  hours  before  the  servants  came 
to  her  protection.  The  Duchess  remained  ever 
afterwards  in  close  confinement,  but  no  salutary 
restraint  is  laid  on  our  visiter  from  Thurso,  who  was 
still  alive  on  my  arrival,  but  fortunately  did  not 
hear  of  our  being  come  in  time  to  leave  her  card 
for  us. 

In  the  old  castle  some  years  ago,  we  had  an 
aged  housekeeper,  who  claimed  the  gift  of  second- 
sight  ;  and  when  walking  one  evening  near  the  shore 
of  Thurso,  she  suddenly  gave  a  starthng  scream,  and 
told  the  people  near  her  that  a  boat  had  been  upset 
on  the  bar  of  the  river ;  naming  three  men  who  were 
drowned,  and  one  that  she  saw  sw^imming  to  land. 
The  friends  who  accompanied  her  perceived  nothing 
of  this,  and  laughed  at  her ;  but  next  evening,  about 
the  same  hour,  the  boat  she  had  described  actually 
was  lost  there,  and  all  the  three  fishermen  she  had 
named  perished.  How  truly  it  has  been  remarked, 
that  "  the  veil  which  conceals  futurity  was  woven 


SCRABSTER   CASTLE.  49 

by  the  hand  of  mercy."  This  old  housekeeper 
insisted,  also,  for  the  honour  of  Thurso  Castle,  that 
one  room  was  haunted,  though  I  never  could  exactly 
ascertain  who  had  been  murdered  there,  nor  in  what 
shape  the  apparition  might  be  expected.  She 
always  gave  an  impressively  superstitious  shake  of 
the  head  when  speaking  of  this  apartment,  saying, 
that  once  she  had  attempted  to  pass  a  night  in  it,  but 
what  took  place  must  never  be  told ;  only,  on  that 
memorable  occasion,  it  was  well  known,  that,  after 
an  hour  or  two,  she  hastily  vacated  her  position,  and 
would  never  return  there  alone  after  dusk.  A  gen- 
tleman hearing  these  rumours,  insisted  once,  when 
visiting  at  Thurso  Castle,  on  occupying  this  room, 
and  came  down  to  breakfast  next  morning  with  a 
large  black  patch  on  his  forehead,  gravely  protest- 
ing to  the  old  w^oman,  Avhen  she  waylaid  him  in 
the  passage,  that  the  ghost  had  taken  him  out  of  bed 
in  the  middle  of  the  night,  and  tossed  him  three  times 
up  to  the  roof  of  the  room,  till  he  was  nearly  killed, 
adding,  that  he  never  would  sleep  there  again,  a 
resolution  very  easily  adhered  to,  as  he  was  then 
leaving  the  country  for  good. 

This  morning  we  walked  to  inspect  Her  Majesty's 
Royal  Castle  of  Scrabster.  My  father  w^as  the 
hereditary  high  Constable  there  ;  but  it  is  to  be 
hoped  no  probability  exists  of  a  Royal  visit,  as  the 
accommodation  would  be  somewhat  deficient — there 


50  THURSO. 

being  excellent  grazing  for  a  single  sheep  in  the 
only  apartment  of  which  any  remains  are  visible, 
and  the  small  fragment  of  wall  looks  as  if  it  could 
be  thrown  over  with  your  little  finger.  Here,  in 
former  times  a  Bishop  of  Caithness  w^as  murdered. 
The  people  in  those  days  not  being  allowed  a  veto, 
took  the  law  into  their  own  hands,  and,  with  a  degree 
of  cruelty  which  a  New  Zealander  w^ould  be  ashamed 
of,  thrust  him  alive  into  a  caldron,  and  boiled  him 
to  death.  It  was  perhaps  in  allusion  to  this  tragical 
story,  that  when  your  cousin  dined  with  the  Lord 
High  Commissioner,  expecting  to  meet  nobody  but 
clergymen  in  black,  and  saw,  instead,  only  officers  in 
scarlet,  he  suddenly  exclaimed,  "  You  have  boiled 
all  the  ministers!" 

The  new  church  at  Thurso,  the  chief  expense 
of  building  which,  in  a  very  superior  style  of  archi- 
tecture, was  incurred  by  my  father,  is  quite  a  little 
cathedral,  being  the  handsomest  edifice  north  of 
Inverness,  partly  formed  of  a  very  hard  stone  im- 
ported from  Morayshire.  In  the  gallery  here,  the 
congregation  resembles  in  dress  and  appearance  what 
you  might  expect  to  see  at  any  fashionable  church  in 
London,  with  bonnets  a  la  Carsan,  scarcely  a  week 
old,  from  Paris  or  London.  Women  in  the  lower 
orders  all  w^ear  clean  white  caps,  or  "  mutches, ^^  as 
they  are  called,  and  large  blue  cloaks,  like  bathing- 
dresses,  w^hich  hide  all  deficiencies,  and  give  to  their 


THURSO.  51 

appearance  an  air  of  grave  respectability.  The  ex- 
pression of  their  countenance  exhibits  more  than 
common  acuteness ;  and  one  group  of  men  in  the 
lower  classes  reminded  me  of  Raphael's  cartoon,  re- 
presenting Paul  preaching  to  the  philosophers  at 
Athens,  their  countenances  wore  so  criticizing  an 
aspect  of  dubious  approbation,  apparently  more  in- 
tent on  discovering  the  preacher's  fault  than  their 
own.  One  aged  female,  most  conspicuously  atten- 
tive, at  last  pulled  the  hood  of  her  cloak  entirely 
over  her  face,  and  seemed  WTapped  in  meditation  ; 
but  I  missed  an  old  woman  of  former  days,  who  al- 
ways listened  to  the  -sermon  on  account  of  our 
family  rather  than  on  her  own,  and  frequently  held 
up  her  finger  to  our  pew  when  any  thing  was  said 
on  the  danger  of  riches  and  prosperity,  or  on  the  evils 
of  "  Greek  learning  and  Latin  philosophy,"  a  favour- 
ite subject  of  declamation  with  the  late  incumbent 
of  this  parish.  Opposite  to  his  pulpit,  in  those  days, 
sat  a  learned  English  scholar  and  skilful  physician, 
Dr.  Torrens,  for  whom  my  father  had  obtained  an 
Excise  appointment  here,  that  he  might  be  induced 
by  the  emolument  to  settle  and  practise  in  so  remote 
a  district.  An  irresistible  smile  often  stole  over  his 
intelligent  features  when  hearing  the  new  views  of 
history,  chronology,  and  the  classics,  then  promul- 
gated by  a  clergyman  who  had  been  appointed  at 
the  earnest  request  of  the  parishioners.     Having,  on 


52  '  THURSO. 

one  occasion,  allowed  a  young  stranger  to  preach 
for  him,  our  parish  minister  was  observed  to  be 
restless  and  uneasy  till  the  sermon  was  concluded, 
and  stopped  the  congregation,  when  about  to  dis- 
perse, by  standing  up  in  his  own  pew,  and  saying, 
"  My  friends !  you  have  this  morning  heard  enough 
about  the  law,  let  me  give  you  a  little  of  the 
gospel !" 

On  another  occasion  he  argued  at  great  length 
with  an  antagonist,  as  learned  in  divinity,  and  more 
skilful  in  argument  than  himself,  but  after  retiring 
apparently  confuted,  he  gave  out,  on  the  following 
Sunday,  a  text  suitable  to  the  previous  discussion, 
and  then  supposed  a  dialogue  between  a  Pharisee 
and  a  Christian,  wherein  his  opponent's  reasoning 
appeared  to  considerable  disadvantage,  while  his 
own  replies  were  of  course  finally  successful. 

My  late  father,  who  valued  what  he  possessed 
only  in  proportion  as  it  might  benefit  others,  trans- 
ferred the  patronage  of  this  parish,  when  it  became 
vacant,  a  second  time  to  the  inhabitants  of  Thurso, 
allowing  them  again  the  free  choice  of  their  own 
pastor,  and  in  the  present  instance  they  have  been 
extremely  fortunate.  The  first  candidate  who  ap- 
peared, Mr.  Taylor,  after  delivering  one  very  elo- 
quent sermon,  w^as  elected  almost  by  acclamation ! 
I  accompanied  my  father  out  of  church  on  that  Sun- 
day, when  we   were   surrounded  by  a   crowd  in 


THURSO.  53 

perfect  transports  with  what  had  been  preached, 
and  their  unanimous  presentation  was  instantly 
cordially  acceded  to.  My  father  felt  dehghted  to 
be  so  well  out  of"  the  scrape,"  as  he  considered  it, 
having  been  apprehensive  of  serious  differences ; 
but  next  morning  a  deputation  of  the  parishioners 
called  at  Thurso  Castle  to  say,  that  upon  further 
consideration,  they  began  to  fear  the  election  had 
been  rashly  made,  and  it  was  thought  desirable  to 
hear  more  candidates.  Foreseeing  the  anarchy  and 
confusion  this  would  occasion,  my  father  replied  that 
the  congregation  must  abide  by  their  original  deci- 
sion. They  accordingly  did  so,  which  the  fifteen 
hundred  patrons  at  Thurso  have  never  since  had  any 
reasonable  cause  to  regret. 

Mr.  Burn,  the  dissenting  clergyman  here,  has 
adopted  an  excellent  plan  to  discourage  backbiting 
among  his  congregation.  The  moment  any  indivi- 
dual begins  gossiping  out  a  story  to  the  disparage- 
ment of  another,  he  gravely  produces  pen,  ink,  and 
paper,  desiring  his  visiter  to  write  down  all  the  parti- 
culars, as  they  must  be  brought  before  the  session. 
Having  repeatedly  insinuated  this  threat,  a  panic  has 
been  spread  among  informers  and  scandal-mongers, 
so  that  no  one  ventures  to  say  a  word  of  his  neigh- 
bour which  might  not  be  printed.  Besides  the  advan- 
tage of  checking  ill-nature,  this  expedient  will  in- 
crease his  own  efficiency,  by  proving  his  unwilling- 
5* 


54  THURSO. 

ness  to  take  up  any  evil  report  against  members  of 
the  congregation ;  moreover  it  seems  a  most  judi- 
cious remark  of  Mrs.  Fry's,  that  in  addressing  sinners, 
it  is  always  best  to  remain  ignorant  of  their  peculiar 
failmgs,  or  the  admonitions  of  a  preacher  become 
inevitably  too  personal.  Rowland  Hill  used  to  say, 
that  every  sermon  should  have  three  R's  in  it. 
Ruin  by  the  fall, — ^Redemption  by  Christ, — Regene- 
ration by  the  Holy  Spirit, — and  if  to  these  be  added 
an  earnest  and  affectionate  application  of  gospel 
truth,  to  the  hearts  and  minds  of  a  congregation,  no 
personal  animadversions  could  improve  the  effect ; 
yet  I  have  knowm  more  than  one  preacher  make 
very  marked  allusion  to  individuals  when  present, 
and  an  instance  was  pointed  out  to  me  once  in  Eng- 
land, where  a  nobleman  of  perfectly  unimpeachable 
moral  character  had  been  literally  preached  out  of 
his  own  pew.  Those  who  are  ambassadors  should 
surely  be  careful  that  no  private  feelings  of  their 
own  interfere  with  the  due  delivery  of  their  message, 
but  remember  that  they  represent  a  Law^giver,  w^ho 
summons  all,  without  exception,  to  come  and  hear 
the  words  of  eternal  Hfe ;  that  the  very  presence  of 
any  individual  in  church  indicates  a  certain  degree 
of  obedience,  w^hich  ought  to  be  encouraged,  and 
that  those  who  are  not  against  us  are  for  us.  Unless, 
therefore,  an  open  breach  be  committed  of  any 
known  commandment,  or  an  obvious  desecration  of 


THURSO.  55 

the  Sabbath,  all  should  assemble  in  church  on  the 
same  common  ground  of  being  sinners  in  need  of 
salvation,  but  the  pulpit  was  never  intended  as  a 
place  for  inquisitorial  commentaries  on  the  details  of 
private  life. 

A  stranger  who  preached  last  month  at  Thurso, 
having  heard  that  a  charity  ball  had  taken  place 
there,  fulminated  a  vehement  censure  on  all  those 
who  attended.  The  sacrament  being  about  to  take 
place,  he  said,  among  other  remarks,  that  "  those 
who  had  gone  to  the  tap-room  were  unfit  for  the 
Lord's  table,"  and  this  being  considered  in  the  light 
of  a  prohibition,  several  residents  who  had  attended 
the  ordinance  unremittingly  for  thirty  years  were 
thus  hindered  from  appearing. 

In  respect  to  amusements  for  the  young,  I  can- 
not but  advocate  the  temperate  use  of  those  that 
seem  innocent,  rather  than  total  abstinence,  though 
the  frantic  excess  to  which  they  are  carried  in  some 
houses,  might  make  any  Christian  hesitate  in  doing 
so,  as  we  are  bound  solemnly  to  remember,  that 
those  things  which  may  be  lawful  when  kept  in  due 
subordination,  are  nevertheless  not  always  expedient. 
It  has  generally  appeared  to  me,  that  the  entire  dis- 
use of  those  relaxations  natural  to  youth,  too  fre- 
quently leads  either  to  vice,  or  to  slothful  indolence, 
or  to  hypochondriacal  fancies  about  health.  It  is 
the  excess  of  all  earthly  things  that  is  to  be  avoided, 


56  THURSO. 

and  the  highest  exercise  of  Christian  principle  is, 
to  enjoy,  without  abusing,  the  gifts  of  Providence. 
Men  occasionally  drown  themselves  in  water,  but 
water  is  not  on  that  account  to  be  abjured;  and  the 
exercise  of  dancing  seems  to  have  no  more  intrinsic 
evil  in  it,  than  running  or  leaping,  if  kept  in  strict 
moderation,  and  allowed  to  interfere  with  no  essen- 
tial duty.  If  we  could  get  over  what  Lord  Dudley 
called  the  "national  insanity"  of  late  hours,  so  that 
balls  were  to  begin  earlier,  and  end  sooner,  one  of 
the  greatest  objections  to  that  amusement  would  be 
obviated.  A  dance  beginning  at  six,  and  ending  at 
eleven,  instead  of  beginning  at  eleven,  and  ending 
at  six,  might  be  equally  agreeable,  and  could  lead 
to  no  such  dissipation  of  mind,  as  is  now  to  be 
lamented  in  those  who  enter  on  the  amusements  of 
life  to  an  extreme  which  obliges  all  rationally  dis- 
posed persons  to  w^ithdraw  from  them  entirely.  The 
ball  at  Thurso  led  to  no  excess  either  in  hours  or 
expense,  but  some  political  estrangement  having 
previously  taken  place  between  near  neighbours  and 
old  friends,  it  was  thought  desirable  that  they  should 
meet  on  neutral  ground,  and  associate  once  more  on 
terms  of  cordiality;  therefore  about  forty  persons 
assembled,  and  danced  off  any  feelings  of  irritability 
which  had  existed,  believing  that  in  doing  so,  no 
violation  of  duty  was  committed,  while  a  restora- 
tion had  thus  been  made  to   sociabihty  and  good 


THURSO.  57 

neighbourhood,  which  it  is  so  desirable  always  to 
preserve  inviolate  among  Christians. 

If  the  world  had  been  partitioned  into  cells,  like 
a  honey-comb,  and  each  individual's  own  sphere  of 
action  limited  vdthin  a  separate  enclosure,  none  of 
those  admonitions  respecting  our  conduct  in  society, 
so  lavishly  scattered  over  the  sacred  pages,  would 
have  been  recorded ;  but  the  miser  who  hoards  his 
time  without  spending  it  well,  goes  to  one  extreme, 
while  the  spendthrift  who  wastes  it  on  vain  and 
heartless  amusement,  falls  into  an  opposite  excess. 
The  true  medium  is  found  in  Holy  Scriptm^e,  where 
social  intercourse  among  Christians  is  continually 
alluded  to,  though  alw^ays  in  subservience  to  higher 
and  holier  duties,  with  the  incessant  observance  of 
which,  neither  the  pleasures,  nor  even  the  affections 
of  this  life,  must  ever  be  allowed  to  interfere. 

There  w^ere  two  county  newspapers  published 
till  lately  in  Caithness ;  and  in  the  far  north,  the 
Court  circular  and  the  fashions  are  most  assiduously 
studied,  for  whether  her  Majesty  be  pleased  to  ride 
in  Windsor  Park,  or  to  drive  towards  Kew  Gardens, 
is  fully  as  much  discussed  here  as  in  the  more  im- 
mediate orbit  of  her  royal  presence.  In  Ross-shire, 
I  was  amused  to  hear  of  a  book  club,  w^here  one  of 
the  farmers  ordered  the  novel  called  "  Almack's," 
being  anxious,  he  said,  to  ascertain  what  the  quality 
were  about ;  and  throughout  the  Highlands,  every 


58^  BARROGILL    CASTLE. 

on  dit  respecting  Buckingham  Palace  travels  33 
safely  and  expeditiously  northwards  as  the  last  new 
bonnet,  being  only  a  little  enlarged,  and  a  very  little 
more  trimmed  and  embellished,  during  its  progress, 
though  still  in  some  degree  resembling  the  original 
pattern. 

Connoiseurs  in  comfort  would  find  it  a  perfect 
study  to  see  Barrogill  Castle,  belonging  to  the  Earl 
of  Caithness,  Lord  Lieutenant  of  this  county.  It  is, 
as  auctioneers  often  say,  "  every  way  suitable  for  a 
nobleman  of  rank,"  with  all  the  internal  elegance 
of  a  house  in  London,  and  all  the  exterior  dignity 
of  an  ancient  Highland  residence.  Some  admirable 
improvements  have  been  recently  made  by  Burn ; 
and  the  staircase,  wliich  was  formerly  outside,  as 
high  as  the  drawing-room  floor,  is  now  thrown  into 
the  house,  w^hile  several  windows  have  been  thrown 
out,  which  w^ere  greatly  wanted.  In  those  peaceful 
times,  when  there  is  no  longer  any  necessity  for  a 
castle  to  be  fortified,  it  is  pleasing  to  see  the  gloomy 
strength  of  former  days  exchanged  for  a  more  smil- 
ing aspect;  and  here  we  found  some  first-rate  pic- 
tures by  the  best  masters,  a  haimted  apartment, 
abundance  of  interesting  family  portraits,  and  a 
forest  of  the  very  best  trees  that  Caithness  can 
produce. 

Apropos  of  trees,  w^hen  we  went  in  a  gig  yes- 
terday to  see  Castle  Hill,  belonging  to  Mr.  Traill, 


BARROGILL    CASTLE.  59 

the  most  persevering  improver  now  in  the  North,  I 
was  very  nearly  killed  in  consequence  of  our  Caith- 
ness horse  taking  fright  at  a  tree  !  He  w^as  evi- 
dently unused  to  the  chequered  shadow  of  leaves  on 
the  ground ;  so  he  started  in  the  well-planted 
approach,  pricked  his  ears,  backed,  and,  when  a 
gentle  breeze  at  length  caused  the  branches  to  flicker 
about,  he  fairly  set  off  in  a  panic.  If  we  had  en- 
countered so  terrifying  and  unusual  an  object  as 
another  tree,  almost  twenty  feet  high,  in  ahy  more 
dangerous  part  of  our  drive,  the  consequences  w^ould 
probably  have  been  fatal ;  but  no  successor  having 
appeared  within  ten  miles,  our  Caithness  quadruped 
had  time  to  compose  his  nerves,  after  witnessing  so 
extraordinary  a  phenomenon. 

A  celebrated  tide  runs  near  Barrogill  Castle, 
called  "The  merry  men  of  Mey,"  very  noisy  and 
obstreperous  indeed,  but  no  subject  of  merriment  to 
vessels,  as  they  have  to  go  off  their  track  many 
leagues  sometimes  to  avoid  the  vortex,  and,  when 
caught,  are  swept  back  on  a  stream,  like  the  rapids 
of  a  rapid  river.  This  is  said  to  have  been  the  scene 
of  Grey's  "  Fatal  Sisters,"  translated  from  the  Norse 
tongue. 

Now  the  storm  begins  to  lower, 
(Haste,  the  loom  of  Hell  prepare.) 
Iron  sleet  of  arrowy  shower, 
Hurtles  in  the  darken'd  air. 


60  BARROGILL    CASTLE. 

When  about  to  leave  Caithness,  we  discovered 
that  the  only  post-chaise  in  this  county  had  been 
already  bespoke  to  act  in  the  capacity  of  hearse  at 
a  funeral,  which  seemed  to  me  like  one  of  Harle- 
quin's transformations.  That  this  useful  vehicle 
nii^ht  have  time  to  be  altered  and  dressed  for  the 
melancholy  occasion,  and  that  the  one  only  pair  of 
post-horses  might  have  leisure  to  rest,  we  hastened 
our  journey,  and  with  difficulty  obtained  leave  to 
hire  it ;  so  I  have  at  last  been  actually  reduced  to 
travel,  like  Miss  Pratt,  in  a  hearse  !  How  multifa- 
rious are  the  duties  of  this  old  chaise ! — the  four 
wheels  must  be  all  running  off  sometimes  in  differ- 
ent directions !  All  the  happy  pairs  in  the  county 
probably  make  their  wedding  excursion  in  it,  if 
they  make  one  at  all, — it  takes  the  Doctor  to  his 
patients,  the  boys  to  their  school,  sportsmen  to  the 
moors,  guests  out  to  dinner,  and  the  dead  to  their 
last  resting-place !  The  horses,  too,  once  probably 
grandees  in  a  well-groomed  stable,  giving  some  old 
dowager  her  daily  airing,  or  sharing  the  labour  of 
a  dozen  other  hunters,  are  now  reduced  to  be  ser- 
vants of  all  work,  summoned  at  every  hour  of  the 
night  or  day,  on  every  occasion  of  business,  pleasure, 
profit,  or  loss,  and  bound  to  be  always,  like  soldiers 
when  they  enlist,  "  free,  able,  and  willing." 

One  of  the  most  amusing  stories  of  smuggling 
I  know,  took  place  at  Barrogill  Castle,  when  the 


BARROGILL    CASTLE.  61 

late  Lord  Duffus  resided  there  as  guardian  to  the 
late  Earl  of  Caithness.  Having  clandestinely  im- 
ported sixty  hogsheads  of  claret  for  his  own  private 
drinking,  Lord  Duifus  thought  it  might  be  unsafe  to 
lodge  them  all  in  the  house;  therefore  he  built 
fifty -eight  of  them  up  under  so  enormous  a  peat- 
stack,  that  it  became  the  astonishment  and  admira- 
tion of  the  whole  neighbourhood.  He  then  carried 
the  remaining  two  hogsheads  into  Barrogill  Castle, 
and  wrote  an  anonymous  information  against  him- 
self to  the  excise-officer  at  Thurso,  who  hurried 
over  immediately  to  investigate  the  case.  Lord 
DufFus  received  him  as  a  friend,  cordially  invited 
him  to  dinner,  whispered  confidentially  that  he  could 
give  him  a  capital  bottle  of  claret,  and  after  dinner, 
when  the  worthy  man  was  nearly  half  seas  over, 
showed  him  the  two  hogsheads,  and  said  they  were 
scarcely  worth  seizing,  but  he  hoped  his  friend 
would  return  often,  as  long  as  they  lasted,  and  shai'e 
the  last  drop  with  him;  after  which  they  shook 
hands,  and  exit  in  mutual  good  humour. 


JOURNAL 

OF    A 

TWO  DAYS'  RESIDENCE  IN  SHETLAND, 


FULL,    TRUE,    AND    PARTICULAR    ACCOUNT    OF    THE 

HABITS,    MANNERS,    AND    LANGUAGE    OF    THE 

NATIVES,    THEIR    DRESS,    APPEARANCE, 

AND    CUSTOMS  : 


NEW  AND  ORIGINAL  DISCOVERIES  RESPECTING  THE  GEOGRAPHY, 

ASTRONOMY,  NATURAL  HISTORY,  AND  GEOLOGICAL 

STRUCTURE  OF  THOSE  ISLANDS  ; 

WITH  A  DETAILED  ACCOUNT  OF  THEIR   HISTORY,  PAST, 
PRESENT,  AND  TO  COME, 


Dedicated  to  the  Royal  Society. 

"A  most  elaborate  and  deeply  scientific  work." — Philosophical  Journal. 
'•  VVe  earnestly  recommend  this  admirable  volume  to  all  readers  who  wish 

for  profound  views  and  erudite  research."— Scientifjc  Argus. 
"We  cannot  but  wish  that  Sir  Isaac  Newton  and  Sir  Joseph  Banks  had 

lived  to  see  this  day  !" — Popular  Phuosopher. 


Ask  Where's  the  north  7— at  York  'tis  on  the  Tweed — 

In  Scolland,  at  the  Orcades, — and  there, 

At  Greenland,  Zembla,  or,  I  can't  tell  where. 

My  DEAR  Cousin, — Every  new  country  is  inter- 
esting to  visit  once,  though  the  real  comphment  is, 
as  you  say,  to  go  a  second  time.  I  like  to  ascertain 
with  my  own  eyes,  what  is,  or  is  not  w^orth  seeing 
in  it, — whether  it  be  better  or  w^orse  than  my  own — 


SHETLAND.  63 

how  people  set  about  being  happy  there,  and  how 
they  succeed.  At  one  time  I  expected  quite  as 
much  to  visit  the  moon  as  the  Shetland  islands,  but 
I  have  lately  indulged  a  sort  of  hopeless  Avish  to 
venture  on  a  voyage  of  discovery  towards  the  ex- 
treme verge  of  her  IMajesty's  dominions,  that  I 
might  pass  the  longest  day  of  my  life  in  that  country 
where  two  days  are  turned  into  one,  by  having  no 
intervening  night. 

Islands  are  troublesome  articles  to  deal  with, 
especially  as  I  have  not  the  courage  of  a  butterfly 
by  steam,  therefore  it  was  a  considerable  exertion 
the  first  time  I  invited  myself  to  go,  but  after  talking 
it  over  with  myself  during  some  weeks,  it  became  a 
matter  of  course,  that  wind  and  weather  permitting,  or 
even  not  permitting  !  the  experiment  should  be  tried; 
consequently  one  cold  stormy  morning,  to  my  own 
great  astonishment,  we  found  ourselves  on  board 
the  Sovereign,  a  fine,  large,  wxll-grown  steam-boat, 
which  touches  at  Wick  once  a  week,  in  full  boil,  on 
its  route  from  Leith  to  Lerwick,  and  picks  up  all 
those  courageous  passengers  who  may  have  sum- 
moned up  resolution  and  enterprise  enough  to  ven- 
ture almost  within  sight  of  the  north  pole. 

Nearly  every  gentleman  before  whom  I  have 
happened  to  mention  Shetland  during  the  last  year 
or  two,  has  long  intended  to  take  a  glimpse  of  these 
stormy  isles,  but  while  swarms  and  clouds  of  travel- 


64  SHETLAND. 

lers  are  migrating  to  the  most  unattainable  foreign 
districts,  our  own  northern  Archipelago  remains  un- 
known and  unnoticed,  wasting  its  sweets,  if  it  has 
any,  on  the  desert  air,  and  scarcely  upon  visiting 
terms  with  a  single  individual.  Pray,  bring  your 
telescope  here  some  day,  and  try,  as  we  are  doing, 
to  get  a  distant  peep  of  Iceland. 

Travellers  are  not  seen  to  much  advantage  in 
steam-boat  costume,  and  it  is  certainly  odd  that, 
wherever  a  crowd  is  assembled  in  a  morning,  they 
all  look  vulgar ;  therefore  we  glanced  round  at  the 
mob  of  miscellaneous  beings  assembled  on  deck,  all 
shivering,  in  cloaks  of  every  shape,  size,  and  colour, 
little  hoping  to  meet  with  the  very  agreeable  so- 
ciety which  we  soon  afterwards  discovered  on  board, 
or  indeed  with  any  thing  that  could  be  called  so- 
ciety at  all 

The  General  Assembly  of  Scotland  having  re- 
cently dispersed,  we  found  a  ship-load  of  divines  re- 
turning to  their  congregations  in  the  north,  some 
apparently  clever  and  eccentric,  some  extra-eccen- 
tric, and  others  pious,  learned,  and  communicative, 
who  added  all  that  w^as  in  their  power,  and  that 
w^as  a  great  deal,  to  the  pleasure  of  our  voyage,  and 
almost  eveiy  one  of  whom  gave  us  most  cordial  in- 
vitations to  their  fire-sides  and  manses  in  Shetland. 
Mr.  Hamilton,  the  very  talented  and  agreeable  in- 
cumbent of  Brassay,  near  Lerwick,  became  a  per- 


SHETLAND.  65 

feet  encyclopedia  of  information  and  entertainment 
as  long  as  we  continued  in  the  ultra-north,  and  Mr. 
Watson  of  North  Yell  afforded  us  many  curious  de- 
tails respecting  his  parish  and  people.  He  officiates 
in  two  churches,  divided  by  a  broad  and  dangerous 
ferry,  where  frequently  on  Sunday  six  rowers  have 
endeavoured  in  vain  to  carry  him  across,  but  after 
pulling  incessantly  for  three  or  four  hours,  and  com- 
ing in  sight  of  his  church  and  the  assembled  con- 
gregation, he  has  been  obliged  to  relinquish  'all 
hope  of  landing,  while  it  was  about  equally  difficult 
to  reach  the  opposite  shore.  One  of  Mr.  Watson's 
elders,  who  had  to  travel  eight  Shetland  miles,  a 
very  vague  measurement,  besides  crossing  a  wide 
ferry  before  getting  to  church,  was  so  exceedingly 
zealous  that  never  during  many  years  did  he  once 
miss  divine  service !  This  venerable  Christian  was 
unfortunately  drowned  lately  while  trying  to  save 
the  crew  of  another  boat  lost  near  his  own  house. 
Mr.  Watson  says  the  people  of  Shetland,  in  general, 
testify  an  extreme  value  for  public  ordinances,  and 
though  his  parish  consists  of  only  eight  hundred  per- 
sons, he  generally  averages  at  the  sacrament  about 
three  hundred  and  fifty  communicants.  They  are 
all  so  indigent  that  the  collection  at  church  seldom 
exceeds  threepence  ! 

The  chief  or  only  wealth  of  Shetland  arises  from 
the  fisheries,  and  from  the  manufacture  of  wool, 
6* 


66  SHETLAND. 

which  is  of  so  very  superior  a  quahty  that  stockings 
are  knitted  by  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  in 
these  islands,  at  all  prices,  and  are  sometimes  fine 
enough  to  be  sold  for  two  guineas  a  pair  !  I  find 
it  registered  in  the  Rev.  Mr.  Sands'  account  of  his 
own  parish  Tingwall,  near  Lerwick,  that "  formerly 
the  stockings  of  Shetland  were  sent  to  Holland,  but 
the  difference  of  their  value,  since  they  found  their 
way  to  other  markets,  particularly  the  English,  is 
said  to  be  nearly  equal  to  the  land-rent  of  the  coun- 
try, and  this  difference  must  be  ascribed  to  the  pat- 
riotic and  benevolent  exertions  of  Sir  John  Sin- 
clair." During  the  eighty  years  of  my  father's  life, 
he  published  one  hundred  and  six  volumes,  and 
three  hundred  and  sixty-seven  pamphlets,  written 
with  the  one  all-prevailing  desire  to  benefit  his  na- 
tive country,  and  while  he  has  been  called  from  his 
labours  to  that  rest  which  remaineth  for  the  people 
of  God,  it  is  pleasing  in  every  part  of  Scotland  to 
trace  the  success  of  so  enterprising  and  persevering 
a  patriot.  The  universal  diffusion  of  English  sheep 
over  our  native  hills,  was  an  era  in  our  national 
history,  and  has  nearly  doubled  the  value  of  many 
Highland  properties,  where,  owing  to  ignorance 
and  mismanagement,  the  Scottish  wool  had  become 
so  exceedingly  deteriorated  and  scarce,  that,  on  an 
average,  four  millions  of  pounds  had  to  be  annu- 
ally imported  from  Spain.     In  consequence  of  some 


SHETLAND.  67 

advantageous  discoveries  respecting  wool,  commu- 
nicated by  my  father  to  the  Highland  Society,  a 
board  of  inquiry  was  instantly  formed,  of  which  he 
became  chairman,  sparing  neither  time  nor  expense 
to  render  it  efficient,  and  presenting  to  the  com- 
mittee a  hundred  sheep,  which  he  had  collected  from 
the  royal  flocks  of  France,  from  Spain,  Shetland, 
and  England,  to  the  latter  of  which  he  gave  that 
name,  now  so  universally  known  of  "  Cheviot 
sheep."  He  travelled  in  person  to  every  county 
where  the  growth  of  wool  was  peculiarly  successful, 
and  at  an  inn  twelve  miles  from  Edinburgh,  he  gave 
the  first  sheep-shearing  festival  which  had  ever 
taken  place  in  Great  Britain,  where  a  multitude  of 
persons  from  all  countries  sat  down  to  a  collation, 
each  adorned  with  pastoral  badges  and  emblems, 
and  where  one  of  the  amusements  consisted  in  seeinsr 
wool  which  had  been  shorn  in  the  morning,  spun, 
dyed,  wove,  and  formed  into  a  coat  during  a  single 
day. 

Nothing  in  D'Israeli's  Curiosities  of  Literature 
can  be  more  singular  than  the  origin,  progress,  and 
termination  of  my  father's  single-handed  efforts  to 
collect  the  Statistical  Account  of  Scotland,  a  work 
for  which  no  precedent  existed  in  the  world,  as 
even  the  very  word  "  Statistics"  w^as  invented  by 
himself,  a  fact  recorded  in  the  old  contemporary 
edition  of  Walker's  Dictionary,  who  remarks  that 


68  SHETLAND. 

no  name  had  previously  existed  for  a  science  now  so 
generally  understood.  To  anatomize  the  society, 
population,  history,  manufactui^es,  and  antiquities  of 
a  great  nation,  required  enterprise,  perseverance, 
and  even  enthusiasm;  but  unintimidated  by  obsta- 
cles, he  addressed  separate  letters  to  one  thousand 
clergymen,  suggesting  his  plan  and  requesting  their 
aid.  To  some  of  the  more  indolent  he  wrote  three- 
and-twenty  times,  besides  applying  to  their  patrons 
and  friends,  to  gain  their  co-operation,  and  the  last 
effort  he  made  to  arouse  any  individual's  exertion 
w^as  by  forwarding  him  an  epistle  written  with  red 
ink,  explaining  that  this  w^as  a  final  attempt  to  rouse 
his  patriotism.  After  receiving  many  thousand  let- 
ters, he  employed  missionaries  at  his  own  expense 
to  collect  the  details  of  such  parishes  as  were  not 
reported  by  the  clergy,  and  wrote  some  himself. 
In  the  course  of  seven  years  this  arduous  work  was 
completed,  after  w^hich  the  author  used  his  influence 
to  obtain  for  a  reward,  nothing  personal  to  himself, 
but  a  grant  from  government,  to  the  "  Society  for 
the  sons  of  the  clergy,"  of  .£2000,  and  presented 
besides  to  that  useful  institution,  the  copyright  and 
whole  pecuniary  benefit  of  his  labours.  To  himself 
and  his  family  remained  only  the  gratification  of 
w^itnessing  his  entire  success,  and  the  honour  which 
he  deserved  for  so  vast  and  patriotic  an  undertaking. 
Adam  Smith  remarks  that  there  are  three  ways  of 


SHETLAND.  69 

pursuing  fame.  "  Those  who  wish  to  enjoy  celeb- 
rity, whether  they  deserve  it  or  not, — those  who 
seek  to  deserve,  but  care  not  to  enjoy  it, — and  those," 
Hke  my  father,  "  who  seek  both  to  deserve  and  to 
enjoy  it."  Few  ever  loved  his  country  more, — few 
ever  labom  ed  as  perseveringly  to  serve  it, — and  few 
ever  more  deeply  valued  its  approbation.  When 
age  and  infirmity  precluded  the  possibility  of  new 
exertions,  he  often  looked  back  on  the  difficulties  so 
laboriously  surmounted  in  preparing  the  Statistical 
Account  of  Scotland,  with  a  pleasing  consciousness 
of  having  served  his  country  so  essentially.  Even 
when  verging  towards  the  grave,  and  turning  his 
thoughts  to  a  better  world,  he  heard  with  satisfaction, 
though  not  consulted  on  the  subject,  that  a  second 
edition  of  this  great  work  was  in  progress.  Before 
long,  volume  after  volume  appeared,  containing  no 
meed  of  praise  for  his  exertions  !  no  tribute  of  grati- 
tude for  his  liberality  !  no  mention  even  of  his  name  ! 
A  great  edifice  had  been  raised,  and  the  original 
architect,  who  planned  the  whole,  incurred  the  ex- 
pense, engaged  the  artisans,  obtained  a  reward  for 
their  labours,  and  generously  claimed  no  recompense 
for  himself,  was  now  entirely  overlooked,  but  never- 
theless could  he  have  foreseen  the  end  from  the  be- 
ginning, his  strong  impulse  to  do  good  as  he  had 
opportunity,  would  still  have  prevailed.  From  that 
period,  my  father  calmly  but  indignantly  ceased  to 


/  U  SHETLAND. 

mention  a  subject  once  the  source  df  so  much  plea- 
sure, and  latterly  we  avoided  any  allusion  to  it.  Li 
the  volume  which  came  out  immediately  after  my 
father's  decease,  a  cold,  late,  and  business-like  ac- 
knowledgment of  his  name  appeared,  but  as  no 
copy  of  the  new  edition  is  forwarded  to  his  family, 
I  did  not  borrow  one  to  peruse  it.  The  heart  that 
should  have  been  cheered,  and  the  eye  that  should 
have  been  brightened  by  that  page,  were  at  rest  for 
ever,  and  even  if  ample  justice  had  been  awarded, 
the  praise  that  was  due  could  have  mattered  little 
then  to  him  who  was  beyond  its  reach,  or  to  us  who 
valued  it  only  for  his  sake. 

The  Shetland  accent  is  peculiarly  pleasing,  but 
still  retains  so  strong  a  tinge  of  Norse,  that  the 
somewhat  foreign  pronunciation  led  me  to  imagine 
several  of  the  gentlemen  w^ho  spoke  to  us,  were 
either  Frenchmen,  Danes,  or  even  Irish,  much  more 
than  Scotchmen.  A  rumour  had  reached  us  before 
embarking  in  the  steam-boat,  that  a  great  man  was 
on  board !  No  less  a  personage  than  the  Danish 
governor  of  the  Feroe  Islands,  son  of  the  prime  min- 
ister of  Denmark  !  His  father  had  been  ambassador 
from  that  Court  to  England,  a  man  of  great  abilities 
and  intelligence,  who  had  educated  our  compagnon 
de  voyage  with  great  care,  and  bestowed  on  him 
this  very  inadequate  appointment,  merely  from  a 
desire  to  improve  that  frozen  region  of  ice-bergs 
and  whales. 


SHETLAND.  7 1 

The  governor  of  Feroe,  Mr.  Ployen,  had  with 
great  difficulty  obtained  permission  from  his  own 
rulers  to  travel  in  Scotland,  and  had  brought  a 
large  detachment  of  his  people  to  study  agriculture, 
in  what  region  of  the  earth  do  you  suppose  ?  In 
Shetland  !  !  There  the  spade  husbandry,  wooden 
harrows,  stone  querns,  and  little  hand-mills,  are  a 
centur}^,  at  least,  behind  East  Lothian,  and  the 
world  in  general !  Miss  Edgew^orth's  Farmer  Good- 
enough,  would  have  seen  little  cause  to  complain 
of  modern  innovations,  where  Captain  Hay's  pa- 
tent plough  has  never  yet  been  heard  of,  and  several 
genuine  Scandinavian  implements  of  husbandry  are 
still  in  fashion,  but  "  parmi  les  aveugles,  un  borgne 
est  roi /^  and  the  Shetlanders  may,  perhaps,  be 
some  steps  in  advance  of  their  more  northern  neigh- 
bours. 

Having  no  small  curiosity  to  see  Mr.  Ploy  en  and 
suite,  we  hastened  dow^n  to  dinner,  more  eagerly 
desirous  to  satisfy  our  curiosity  than  our  appetite, 
and  I  was  considerably  entertained  to  see  the  Cap- 
tain ceremoniously  place  his  Danish  guest  on  his 
right  hand,  and  treat  him,  during  the  banquet,  as 
nearly  with  royal  honours,  as  the  small  cabin  of  our 
floating  palace  could  admit,  while  the  governor 
himself  seemed  exceedingly  bored  at  exciting  so 
much  notice. 

I  have  seldom  encountered  a  more  entertaining, 


12  SHETLAND. 

frank,  well  informed  foreigner,  than  Mr.  Ployen,  a 
tall,  fair,  and  very  dignified  looking  personage,  who 
spoke  English  as  well  as  any  native, — or  better, — 
and  who  seemed  anxious  to  make  the  conversation 
a  means  of  giving  and  receiving  as  much  informa- 
tion as  possible.  When  he  sketched  a  lively  graphic 
description  of  his  own  desolate  regions  at  Feroe,  I 
began  to  fancy  it  would  be  quite  impossible  ever  to 
get  far  enough  north,  as  Shetland  seemed  a  mere 
every-day  affair  in  comparison  of  the  inameasurable 
precipices  now  described,  \vhen  he  laughingly  con- 
cluded his  picture  by  saying,  that  we  estimated  the 
height  of  our  shore  by  hundreds  of  feet,  and  he  by 
thousands !  I  must  some  day  explore  a  north-west 
passage  for  myself,  and  measure  the  rocks  of  Feroe. 
Sumburgh-head,  in  Shetland,  rises  about  eight 
hundred  feet  abruptly  out  of  the  ocean,  and  at  North 
Yell,  the  iron-bound  coast,  stretching  forty  miles 
along  the  shore,  forms  a  gigantic  barrier  of  tower- 
ing rocks,  as  if  the  angry,  ceaseless  billows  of  the 
great  Atlantic  had  worn  down,  and  bent  the  very 
earth  by  their  weight.  What  a  mere  insect  man 
appears  in  such  scenes ;  but  here  would  be  a  place 
for  geologists  to  chip  down  the  world  with  their 
hammers,  and  to  frame  half-a-dozen  theories,  or  to 
draw  from  the  rocks  themselves  a  history  of  their 
origin.  In  some  parts  of  Scotland,  the  characters 
of  estates  w^ere  anciently  carved  in  Gaelic  on  the 


SHETLAND.  73 

rocks,  and  here  would  have  been  abundant  space 
for  such  documents.  A  person  ignorant  of  the  law 
once  mentioned,  that  a  gentleman  had  proved  his 
claim  to  an  estate,  and  on  being  asked  in  what 
way,  confidently  replied,  "He  has  carved  it  on 
stone!" 

While  sitting  at  dinner  in  the  cabin,  we  heard 
many  interesting  anecdotes  of  the  dangers  encoun- 
tered by  fowlers  in  scaling  the  rocks  of  Shetland 
and  Feroe,  where  fatal  accidents  are  so  frequent, 
that  the  people  sometimes  say  to  each  other,  "  Your 
grandfather  fell,  your  father  fell,  and  you  must  fol- 
low too."  Others  boast  over  their  companions,  say- 
ing, "  Your  father  died  in  his  bed,  but  mine  went 
off  like  a  man !" 

The  common  mode  of  rifling  the  birds'  nest  is, 
for  the  fowlers  to  suspend  themselves  over  a  beet- 
ling cliff  of  many  hundred  feet,  merely  by  a  single 
rope  forty  or  fifty  fathoms  long,  which  is  so  fretted 
and  hacked  by  the  sharp  edges  of  the  rock,  that  it 
occasionally  breaks,  precipitating  the  unfortunate 
adventurer  from  so  great  a  height,  that  the  body, 
when  found,  sometimes  retains  scarcely  a  vestige  of 
ever  having  been  human.  From  habit,  they  be- 
come so  reckless  of  danger,  however,  that  frequently 
more  than  one  descends  by  the  same  rope,  though  I 
scarcely  know  any  occasion  when  it  would  seem 
more  desirable  to  have  two  strings  to  our  bow. 
7 


/4  SHETLAND. 

Captain  Philips  mentioned,  that  some  time  since, 
a  father  and  two  sons  were  suspended  in  this  way 
over  a  deep  chasm,  when  the  youth  who  hung  up- 
permost hastily  told  his  brother  that  the  rope  was 
breaking,  therefore  it  could  no  longer  support  them 
all,  desiring  him  to  cut  off  the  lower  end,  on  w^hich 
their  father  depended.  The  young  man  indignantly 
refused  thus  to  consign  his  father  to  death,  upon 
which  his  brother,  w^ithout  another  moment's  hesi- 
tation, divided  the  rope  below  himself,  precipitating 
his  father  and  brother  both  to  instant  destruction  \ 
We  had  an  eager  discussion,  after  hearing  this 
shocking  story,  whether  it  w^as  possible  to  have 
acted  better  than  the  amiable  son  who  fell  a  sacri- 
fice to  duty  and  affection,  during  which  Captain 
Philips  suggested,  that  he  might  have  leaped  off  the 
rope,  and  left  his  father  to  be  preserved !  This  w^as 
a  flight  of  generosity  beyond  the  imagination  of  any 
one  else,  and  we  received  it  with  great  approbation. 
Indeed,  we  could  scarcely  have  applauded  him  more, 
if  the  worthy  Captain  had  actually  taken  the  leap 
himself. 

A  succession  of  similar  stories  ensued,  all  tend- 
ing to  prove  that  the  Shetland  rockmen  are  fit  to  be 
rope-dancers  at  Astley's ;  but  nothing  interested  me 
more  than  hearing  a  description  of  the  cradle  at 
Noss.  It  was  formed  by  a  celebrated  climber  from 
the  Isle  of  Fowlar,  who  heard,  that  off  the  point  at 


SHETLAND.  75 

Noss,  a  detached  perpendicular  pillar  stood  one 
hundred  and  sixty  feet  high,  and  being  perfectly 
aloof  from  the  shore,  wa.s  considered  quite  inaccessi- 
ble. Determined  to  do  the  impossible,  and  establish 
his  fame  for  pre-eminence  on  the  rocks,  besides 
being  bribed  with  the  promise  of  a  cow  if  successful, 
he  with  great  difficulty  scrambled  from  a  boat  to  the 
summit  of  this  lofty  point,  where  he  fixed  a  pulley, 
and  suspended  a  basket,  which  could  be  drawn 
across  to  the  mainland,  carrying  sheep  or  men  in 
comparative  safety  over  a  chasm  sixty  yards  wide, 
and  four  hundred  feet  deep.  Fancy  yourself  per- 
forming an  excursion,  in  this  way,  between  the  top 
of  St  Paul's  and  the  monument :  but  that  is  not 
half  high  enough!  Where  shall  we  place  you 
then  ?  Suppose  yourself  swinging  in  an  arm  chair 
between  the  summit  of  Snowdon,  and  the  peak  of 
Cader  Idris !  After  this  curious  enterprise  had  been 
successfully  achieved,  the  poor  man  forgetting  how 
much  more  difficult  it  is  to  go  safely  down  than  to 
ascend  a  precipice,  unfortunately  did  not  take  ad- 
vantage of  his  own  spider-like  bridge,  but  in  trying 
to  [regain  the  boat,  his  foot  slipped,  and  he  fell 
headlong  down,  where  his  body  was  never  seen 
again !  a  hero  dying  in  the  arms  of  victory. 

The  Governor  mentioned,  that  lately  at  Faroe, 
a  fowler  descended  safely  by  the  usual  conveyance 
of  a  rope,  but  when  about  to  be  drawn  up  again, 


76  SHETLAND. 

owing  to  some  awkward  entanglement,  he  arrived 
at  the  surface  with  his  feet  upwards.  His  alarmed 
friends  thought  his  head  had  been  cut  off,  and  felt 
so  relieved  to  discover  their  mistake,  that  the  whole 
party  burst  into  a  simultaneous  peal  of  laughter, 
while  the  adventurer  was  very  glad  he  had  any  face 
to  put  on  the  matter  at  all,  and  laughed  heartily 
also. 

The  upper  part  of  these  cliffs  generally  over- 
hangs the  base ;  therefore  the  rockmen,  w^hen  desi- 
rous to  obtain  a  footing,  are  obliged  to  sw^ing  them- 
selves many  yards  out  in  the  air,  that  the  re-action 
may  shoot  them  back  in  contact  with  the  precipice, 
when  they  instantly  cling  to  any  little  projection 
that  offers,  and,  after  landing  on  it,  anchor  the  end 
of  their  rope  to  a  stone,  and  proceed  with  a  small 
hand-net,  stretched  on  a  hoop,  to  spoon  the  eggs  out 
of  their  nests,  depositing  them  carefully  in  a  sack 
which  they  cany  behind ;  and  when  the  unlucky 
bird  sees  her  loss  inevitable,  by  a  curious  instinct 
she  often  pushes  out  the  egg  to  save  herself.  An 
enterprising  fowler,  standing  on  a  projection  once, 
with  a  sheer  precipice  both  above  and  below  him 
of  several  hundred  feet,  observed  the  end  of  his  rope 
become  suddenly  disengaged  from  its  moorings,  and 
swing  like  a  pendulum  far  into  the  distant  space.  If 
it  escaped  entirely  away,  he  knew  that  death,  either 
by  a  fall,  or  by  the  slower  and  more  dreadful  pro- 


SHETLAND.  77 

cess  of  starvation,  must  become  inevitable ;  there- 
fore, perceiving  that  the  rope,  before  it  finally  set- 
tled, would  swing  once  more  almost  within  his  grasp, 
he  earnestly  watched  the  moment  of  its  return,  made 
a  desperate  spring  forward  in  the  air,  clutched  it  in 
his  hand,  and  was  saved. 

Travellers  are  in  a  perplexing  p  redicament  when 
relating  what  they  see  or  hear,  because  every  thing 
is  either  so  common-place  as  to  be  scarcely  worth 
mentioning,  or  so  extraordinary,  as  to  be  quite  be- 
yond belief;  and  your  credulity  will  take  leave  of 
me  altogether  if  I  continue  on  my  tight-rope  any 
longer.  I  shall  merely  describe  one  thing  which 
amused  and  astonished  me  exceedingly.  Our  steam- 
boat passed  near  Coppensha,  one  of  the  Orkneys, 
which  presents  a  gigantic  barricade  of  rocks,  inhab- 
ited by  millions  of  birds,  which  we  saw,  though  I 
had  not  time  to  count  them,  sitting  in  rows  like 
charity  children,  with  black  heads  and  white  tippets, 
ranged  along  every  crevice  in  the  cliffs.  Captain 
Philips  caused  several  guns  to  be  fired,  when  an 
uproarious  noise  ensued,  which  can  be  compared  to 
nothing  but  the  hurraing  of  a  whole  army.  It 
seemed  like  a  long  loud  roar,  accompanied  by  the 
echoing  and  re-echoing  of  guns, — a  whole  platoon 
of  cannon,  till  at  length  I  fancied  that  the  commotion 
could  scarcely  have  been  more  deafening  from  the 
mob  and  artillery  of  London  on  the  day  of  Her 


78  SHETLAND. 

Majesty's  coronation.  Above,  below,  and  around, 
the  sea,  air,  and  rocks  seemed  all  one  living  mass  of 
birds,  screaming  at  the  full  pitch  of  their  voices, 
rushing  through  the  air,  careering  to  the  very  clouds, 
flickering  in  circles  over-head,  zig-zagging  all 
round  us,  and  then  dropping  like  a  shower  into  the 
ocean. 

Nothing  in  the  way  of  animal  life  ever  amazed 
me  so  much !  I  wonder  if  any  one  on  earth  can 
imagine  it  ? — no  !  certainly  not !  seeing  is  believing, 
and  nothing  else  will  help  you.  When  I  thought 
how  many  fish  must  be  necessary  to  feed  so  count- 
less a  colony  of  feathered  mariners,  the  miracle 
seemed  greater  still.  The  poor  sillocks  and  herrings 
must  have  a  sad  time  of  it !  Shetland  is  the  metro- 
polis of  birds,  and  the  greatest  ornithologist  might 
weary  himself  here.  In  this  cloud  of  living  creatures 
are  included  kitty-wakes,  cormorants,  sea-larks, 
gulls,  white  and  black  scarfs,  sea-parrots,  maws, 
and  a  species  of  puffin,  commonly  called  lyres,  or, 
as  the  natives  pronounce  them,  "  lawyers !"  It 
would  occasion  rather  a  sensation  in  the  Parliament 
House  to  hear  hoAv  coolly  the  Shetlanders  mention 
having  shot  a  brace  of  lawyers  in  a  morning  !  We 
could  ill  afford  them  a  battu  in  Edinburgh ! 

Seals  and  otters  abound  on  this  coast,  but  I  did 
not  observe  a  single  mermaid,  though  these  are  the 
bays  where  Sir  Joseph  Banks  advised  my  father  to 


SHETLAND.  '  79 

catch  them,  usmg  for  bait,  a  looking-glass  and 
comb  !  Many  interesting  and  "  authentic  !"  stories 
are  told  here  of  mermen  and  merwomen,  which 
would  amuse  you  exceedingly,  therefore,  pray  mus- 
ter up  a  considerable  stock  of  credulity,  and  listen. 
Far  below  the  region  of  fishes,  these  merladies  and 
gentlemen,  who  are  of  supernatural  beauty,  exist  in 
an  atmosphere  of  their  own,  in  which  they  seem 
able  to  live  with  very  tolerable  comfort  in  coral 
palaces,  and  sleeping  on  beds  of  oysters.  WTien  de- 
sirous to  pay  us  a  visit  in  the  upper  regions,  they  have 
power  to  enter  the  skin  of  any  amphibious  animal, 
and  shoot  through  the  water,  but  no  son  or  daugh- 
ter of  the  ocean  can  borrow  more  than  one  sea- 
dress  of  this  kind  for  his  own  particular  use,  there- 
fore, if  the  garb  should  be  mislaid  on  our  shores,  he 
never  can  return  to  his  submarine  country  and 
friends.  A  Shetlander  once  having  found  an  empty 
seal  skin  on  the  shore,  took  it  home  and  kept  it  in 
his  possession.  Soon  after,  he  met  the  most  lovely 
being  w^ho  ever  stepped  on  the  earth,  wringing  her 
hands  with  distress,  and  loudly  lamenting  that  hav- 
ing lost  her  sea-dress,  she  must  remain  for  ever  on 
the  earth.  The  Shetlander  having  fallen  in  love  at 
first  sight,  said  not  a  syllable  about  finding  this  pre- 
cious treasure,  but  made  his  proposals,  and  offered  to 
take  her  for  better  or  for  worse,  as  his  future  wife  ! 
The  raerlady,  though  not,  as  we  know,  much  a 


80  SHETLAND. 

woman  of  the  world,  very  prudently  accepted  this 
offer  !  I  never  heard  what  the  settlements  were, 
but  they  lived  very  happily  for  some  years,  till  one 
day,  when  the  green-haired  bride  unexpectedly  dis- 
covered her  own  long-lost  seal  skin,  and  instantly 
putting  it  on,  she  took  a  hasty  farewell  of  every 
body,  and  ran  towards  the  shore.  Her  husband  flew 
out  in  pursuit  of  her,  but  in  vain  !  She  sprung  from 
point  to  point,  and  from  rock  to  rock,  till  at  length 
bounding  into  the  ocean,  she  disappeared  for  ever, 
leaving  the  worthy  man,  her  husband,  perfectly 
planet-struck  and  inconsolable  on  the  shore ! 

In  some  of  those  islands,  the  rent  is  paid,  as  it  is 
also  at  St.  Kilda,  in  feathers,  which  are  sold  for 
ninepence  per  pound  ;  and  one  of  my  father's  Caith- 
ness farms  had  a  clause  in  the  lease,  entitling  him 
to  a  pepper-corn  rent  of  1000  sea-birds'  eggs  every 
year,  though  he  never  levied  the  tax. 

The  governor  of  Feroe  mentioned,  that,  during 
their  fishing-season,  his  coast  is  so  surrounded  by 
shoals  of  bottle-nosed  whales,  that  the  seamen  go 
out  in  a  long  array  of  boats,  and  drive  them,  like 
flocks  of  sheep,  towards  the  shore.  When  this  cav- 
alcade approaches  land,  a  dreadful  scene  of  carnage 
ensues,  while  the  terrified  monsters  become  infuri- 
ated, and,  in  attempting  to  escape,  they  frequently 
upset  one  or  two  boats.  The  men  become  nearly 
frantic   with  excitement   on   these   occasions,   the 


KIRKWALL.  81 

wounded  animals  bellow  with  pain,  the  ocean  is 
dyed  red  with  blood,  and  troops  of  sea-gulls,  which 
always  attend  on  these  occasions,  become  so  stained 
with  gore,  that,  before  taking  wing  to  depart,  they 
appear  to  be  birds  of  scarlet  plumage. 

Escorted  in  great  state  by  the  governor  of  Feroe 

and  suite,  A and  I  landed  at  Kirkwall,  Captain 

Philips  having  granted  us  leave  of  absence  for  an 
hour  and  three  quarters,  but  his  one  hour  shrunk 
into  a  miserably  short  one,  and  his  three  quarters 
became  nothing  at  all,  as  we  were  soon  peremp- 
torily summoned  back  on  the  shortest  notice,  by  an 
arbitrary  little  bell,  rung  most  impatiently  before 
one-half  our  curiosity  had  been  gratified.  Travel- 
lers who  rashly  apprentice  themselves  to  a  steam- 
boat for  a  certain  number  of  days,  must  expect  less 
attention  to  the  picturesque  than  to  the  station  most 
convenient  for  taking  in  coals,  or  letting  out  pas- 
sengers, as  we  experienced  on  this  lamentable  oc- 
casion. 

The  very  ancient  and  interesting  cathedral  of 
Kirkwall,  dedicated  to  St.  Magnus,  was  begun 
seven  centuries  ago,  by  Ronald,  Earl  of  Orkney, 
It  is  the  most  perfectly  preserved  in  Scotland,  and 
looks  almost  as  large  as  the  whole  city  put  together. 
You  would  fancy  it  an  arrival  from  Brobdignag 
among  the  Liliputian  buildings  around,  and  the 
whole  structure  would  do  honour  to  any  Episcopal 


82  KIRKWALL. 

diocese  in  England,  being  in  truth  a  sort  of  country 
cousin  to  Worcester  Cathedral,  as  they  are  in  a  sim- 
ilar style  of  architecture,  though  the  masonry  of 
Kirkwall  is  coarser,  and  the  plan  scarcely  so  digni- 
fied. It  is  wonderful  that  the  poor  inhabitants,  who 
could  scarcely  rear  dw^ellings  for  themselves,  should 
produce  so  magnificent  a  pile  for  Divine  worship  ! 
The  roof  is  quite  entire,  but  the  lofty  steeple  was 
most  unfortunately  struck  down  by  lightning  several 
years  ago,  which  causes  a  sad  blank  in  the  cowp 
d^oeil  at  first,  though  much  architectural  beauty  still 
remains.  The  long  and  solemn  ranges  of  pillars 
and  cloisters  inside  have  at  length  become  so  per- 
fectly green  with  damp,  that  they  appear  like  some 
wonderful  cave,  over  which  the  sea  had  broken  for 
ages.  Indeed  the  celebrated  cave  at  Flamborough- 
head  is  not  very  unlike  it,  and  certainly  neither 
more  mouldy,  nor  more  weather-stained. 

We  entered  this  hoary  pile  with  feelings  of  pro- 
found reverence  and  admiration,  preparing  our 
minds  for  a  solemn  remembrance  of  the  great  men 
and  the  eloquent  divines  who  once  frequented  those 
sacred  walls,  generation  after  generation,  many  of 
whom  lie  side  by  side  in  the  last  long  sleep  of  death. 
The  first  tomb-stone  w^hich  caught  my  attention  was 
exceedingly  handsome,  exhibiting  a  coat-of-arms 
on  one  side,  and  bearing  a  long  panegyrical  inscrip- 
tion on  the  other.     While  gazing  at  this  impressive 


KIRKWALL.  S3 

memento  with  all  that  profomid  respect  due  to  the 
illustrious  dead,  our  guide  gravely  informed  us  that 
this  tablet  was  raised  in  honour  of  the  late  dancing- 
master  at  Kirkwall ! 

Not  far  off,  lie  the  venerated  remains  of  our 
illustrious  Scottish  historian,  Laing,  w^hose  memory- 
is  deserving  of  the  utmost  reverence  and  admiration 
from  all  his  countrymen;  and  a  few  steps  distant 
we  were  show^n  a  curious  tomb  placed  under  a  low 
heavy  stone  arch,  like  an  ancient  fire-place,  w^hich 
was  built  in  this  peculiar  form  by  special  desire  of 
the  person  underneath,  because  an  enemy  had  once 
threatened  to  dance  on  his  grave. 

We  discovered  the  tombs  of  Bishops  Murray, 
Stewart,  and  a  whole  conclave  of  reverend  fathers, 
their  names,  arms,  and  mitres  carved  in  stone,  and 
surmounted  by  inscriptions,  some  too  long  to  be 
read,  and  others  with  a  great  deal  to  say  which  had 
become  totally  illegible,  though  none  were,  I  trust, 
what  Pope  calls  "  sepulchral  lies,  our  holy  walls  to 
grace."  The  child  we  are  told  of,  who  saw  nothing 
in  a  church  but  laudatory  inscriptions,  made  a  most 
natural  mistake  when  he  asked,  "  where  all  the  bad 
people  were  buried  ?" 

I  was  astonished  at  the  trouble  taken  by  our  for- 
eign friend,  Mr.  Ployen,  to  decipher  every  epitaph 
in  which  there  appeared  generally  more  sentiment 
than  feeling ;  but  he  seemed  to  have  a  remarkable 


84  KIRKWALL. 

knowledge  of  heraldry,  and  being  the  first  Dane 
who  had  recently  invaded  Scotland,  he  was  evi- 
dently anxious  to  claim  for  his  country  some  credit 
in  the  founding  of  this  Cathedral.  With  the  patri- 
otic hope  of  producing  evidence  to  prove  its  Danish 
origin,  he  left  not  a  crevice  unexplored,  so  that 
even  a  rat  could  scarcely  have  enjoyed  its  hole  in 
peace,  but  all  in  vain, — the  Cathedral  of  Kirkwall 
gave  no  sign  I 

Mr.  Ployen  did  not  relish  our  saying,  that  the 
Orkneys  had  been  ceded  to  Scotland  by  the  Danes, 
but  interrupted  our  discussion  wdth  a  deprecating 
bow  and  shrug,  saying  they  were  only  mortgaged 
for  a  small  sum,  and  the  money  had  since  been  ten- 
dered by  his  government  three  times  without  suc- 
cess.    Rather  an  awkward  transaction  if  true. 

In  the  choir  of  this  cathedral.  Divine  service  is 
yet  performed,  but  the  whole  ancient  edifice  is  soon 
to  be  put  on  the  retired  list,  and  superseded  by  a 
fine,  vulgar,  modern  upstart,  which  is  in  full  pro- 
gress here.  All  that  green  baize  and  brass  nails 
can  do  is  done,  to  look  handsome,  but  I  greatly  pre- 
fer the  green  mould  and  yellow  rust  of  the  old 
school,  and  really  w^ould  not  grudge  the  good  peo- 
ple of  Kirkwall  a  few  coughs  and  rheumatisms 
rather  than  let  them  desert  this  fine  old  fabric, 
which  has  ornamented  the  world  so  long. 

Mr.  Ployen  expressed  much  surprise  on  seeing 


KIRKWALL.  §5 

our  square  pews  at  church,  with  a  table  in  the  cen- 
tre, saying  it  gave  him  the  idea  of  our  intending  to 
play  at  whist.  No  separation  of  seats  was  made 
long  ago  in  Scotland,  and  none  is  allowed  now  in 
Denmark,  where  so  strict  an  equality  is  preserved 
in  the  house  of  God,  that  on  one  occasion  a  common 
soldier  found  himself  accidentally  placed  next  to 
the  king.  He  hastily  started  up,  but  his  majesty 
stopped  him,  saying,  "  Stay,  friend  !  remember  there 
is  no  distinction  here  !" 

The  inhabitants  of  Kirkwall  are  intended  never 
to  keep  carriages,  seeing  a  staircase  runs  across 
their  principal  or  only  street,  which  is  entirely 
paved  with  large  flags,  and  so  narrow,  that  opposite 
neio;hbours  mioht  almost  shake  hands  from  their 
respective  windows.  Upwards  of  four  thousand 
w^omen  are  employed  in  plaiting  straw  for  bonnets 
at  Orkney,  and  the  annual  value  of  what  they  make 
is  averaged  at  =£30,000.  Girls  of  eight  years  old, 
and  even  the  very  oldest  men,  can  earn  a  livelihood 
by  this  means ;  and  during  the  long  winter  even- 
ings, little  sociable  parties  of  ten  or  twelve  meet  at 
each  other's  houses,  and  work  together,  beguiling 
the  hours  with  a  snug  gossip,  and  a  cup  of  bohe?. 

The  Castle  of  Orkney  shelters  one  or  two  plar.e 

trees  cowering  within  the  walls,  and  hanging  out  a 

leaf  or  two,  here  and  there,  to  prove  that  they  a'^e 

alive,  which  is  almost  a  questionable  fact,  even  with 

8 


86  KIRKWALL. 

those  few  witnesses  to  attest  it,  and  the  country 
round  seemed  clothed  in  sackcloth.  The  bishop's 
"  manse"  has  been  very  handsome  in  its  day,  though 
now  worn  to  rags,  and  the  market  place  is  neat  and 
extensive. 

You  may  search  round  the  world,  and  find 
nothing  more  hopelessly  ugly  than  the  Isle  of 
Sanda,  which  lies  so  perfectly  flat  and  bare,  that  it 
might  be  taken  for  the  whale's  back  on  which 
Sinbad  the  sailor  landed.  The  ground,  from  a 
very  short  distance,  becomes  quite  invisible,  there- 
fore the  few  houses  we  saw  seemed  floating  on  the 
surface  of  the  sea,  and  the  people  seemed  all  walk- 
ing on  the  water.  It  gave  me  a  better  idea  of  the 
deluge  than  any  picture  I  ever  saw. 

An  alteration  was  made  respecting  the  light- 
house here  some  time  ago,  which  produced  most 
disastrous  consequences.  The  station  formerly  was 
at  North  Ronaldsha,  more  than  three  miles  off,  and 
many  foreign  ships,  consulting  old  charts,  were  mis- 
led in  their  bearings,  and  totally  lost,  though  such 
events  used  not  to  be  imiversally  deplored  among 
the  Shetlanders  formerly,  when  a  stranded  vessel 
was  considered  quite  as  lawful  a  capture  as  a 
stranded  whale.  One  of  our  clerical  friends  men- 
tioned, that  some  years  ago  three  brothers  sailed 
from  Hamburgh  in  different  vessels  on  the  same  day, 
and  after  cruising  to  various  ports  without  meeting. 


KIRKWALL.  87 

they  were  all  wrecked  on  the  shore  of  Sanda  at  the 
same  time,  and  their  ships  completely  lost !  What 
a  melancholy  rencontre  they  must  have  had  on  this 
desolate  and  fatal  coast ! 

A  Danish  princess  lies  interred  at  our  family 
burjdng-place  in  Caithness,  who  met  with  her  death 
under  somewhat  similar  circumstances.  She  had 
married  the  chief  of  the  clan  Gunn,  who  passed 
himself  off,  at  the  court  of  Denmark,  for  being  a 
considerably  greater  man  than  he  really  was,  and 
when  she  became  desirous  at  length  to  see  the 
splendid  residence  he  had  described  himself  to  pos- 
sess in  Scotland,  he  gallantly  insisted  on  preceding 
her  there,  to  make  the  most  magnificent  prepara- 
tions, but  no  Caleb  Balderstone  being  then  on  the 
spot,  he  was  put  to  his  wit's  end  one  evening,  by 
beholding  a  fine  vessel  in  the  distance,  containing 
his  bride  and  her  suite  in  full  progress  homewards. 
In  an  agony  of  consternation,  he  caused  false  lights 
to  be  hung  out  along  the  coast,  the  consequence  of 
which  was  that  the  ship  foundered,  and  her  body, 
richly  dressed  in  jewels,  having  been  washed  on 
shore  at  Clythe,  is  buried  there  with  all  the  splendid 
decorations  she  wore.  It  was  unfortunate  for  the 
princess,  that  she  did  not  see  some  such  conclusive 
reason  for  refusing  Mr.  Gunn,  as  Lady  Penelope 
Primrose  in  more  modern  times,  who  declined  the 
addresses  of  a  gentleman  belonging  to  that  clan, 


88  KIRKWALL. 

giving  as  an  excuse  that  she  could  not  tolerate  the 
idea  of  being  called  all  her  life  "  Lady  Pen-Gun  1" 
Persons  afflicted  with  a  name  which  admits  of  being 
punned  upon,  must  often  Avish,  in  desperation,  that 
some  friend  w^ould  leave  them  an  estate,  as  an  ex- 
cuse for  changing  it. 

Our  Danish  fellow-traveller  was  shocked  beyond 
expression  at  this  tragical  tale,  and  shrugged  his 
shoulders,  till  they  nearly  met  over  his  head,  on 
hearing  the  catastrophe.  I  was  amused  at  the  un- 
mitigated censure  he  bestowed  on  our  country,  for 
allowing  debtors  a  sanctuary  within  the  precincts 
of  Holyrood  Palace,  where  they  enjoy  unmolested 
liberty  to  range  through  the  park  and  hills  around, 
giving  splendid  entertainments,  and  receiving  com- 
pany, while  the  poor  deluded  creditors  are  in  actual 
starvation.  As  Paul  Pry  says,  "  I  don't  mean  to 
hint  that  there  is  any  thing  in  it,  only  it  seems  odd  !" 
and  we  had  very  little  to  urge  in  defence  of  national 
custom  on  this  point.  Mr.  Hamilton  mentioned  that 
the  chief  extravagance  of  his  poor  parishioners  con- 
sists in  teaKlrinking  to  the  most  marvellous  excess, 
and  that  those  who  are  starving  would  rather  pur- 
chase tea  than  bread.  You  never  heard  of  tee-total- 
iers  on  so  large  ^  scale !  the  indulgence  amounts 
almost  to  an  absolute  vice,  and  the  Shetlanders  must 
positively  establish  a  toast-and-water  society  im> 
mediately.     About   £'25,000  worth  of  bohea  is  an- 


KIRKWALL.  89 

nually  entered  at  the  custom-house  in  Lerwick,  be- 
sides which,  a  great  quantity  is  smuggled  by  Dutch 
fishing-boats.  One  poor  man  in  the  parish  of  Bras- 
say,  who  had  the  expensive  infliction  of  a  tea-drink- 
ing wife,  was  cheated,  by  her  secretly  selling  his 
goods  to  obtain  tea!  He  was  observed  once  to 
purchase  the  same  peck  of  meal  three  times  over  in 
one  week,  being  always  assured  that  his  children 
had  eaten  it.  A  Highland  laird  once  remarked,  that 
the  Scotch  peasantry  were  ruined  by  forsaking  "  the 
good  old  porridge  of  their  ancestors  !" 

Mr.  Hamilton  says,  the  kindness  of  all  his  very 
poor  people  towards  each  other  is  astonishing.   Like 
the  widow's  cruize,  their  last  mouthful  is  shared 
wdth  those  who  are  more  necessitous  than  themselves, 
and  no  single  individual  will  ever  starve,  unless  the 
whole  population  perish  together.     Poor  and  des- 
titute as  most  of  them  are,  he  deprecated   any  plan 
of  assessment,  because  it  would  destroy  all  those 
feelings  of  mutual  sympathy  and  independence  which 
are  the  sole  remaining  comforts  they  possess.     It 
certainly  is  one  of  the  deepest  mysteries  in  this  per- 
plexing world,  what  system  is  best  for  relieving  in- 
digence, because  while  our  almighty  Creator  has 
ordained,  for  wise  and  holy  purposes,  that  the  poor 
shall  be  always  on  the  earth,  he  has  at  the  same 
time  laid  a  deep  responsibility  on  the  rich,  to  do  the 
very  utmost  which  liberality  and  good  sense  can 
8* 


90  KIRKWALL. 

dictate,  to  relieve  the  weight  of  wo   and  painful 
endurance  laid  on  our  suffering  brethren.     I  believe 
it  would  be  an  act  of  mercy  to  sweep  from  the  face 
of  the  earth  most  of  those  large  charitable  institu- 
tions which  encumber  it,  except  such  as  are  for  the 
blind  and  the  incurable.     If  a   hospital  were  insti- 
tuted, where   every  living  being  could  receive,  on 
application,  a  dish  of  porridge,  a  flannel  petticoat, 
and   a  bed,  there  w^ould  probably  be  an  end  of  all 
exertion  in  the  world.     There  must  be,  as  a  motive 
to  industry,  the  apprehension  of  that  misery,  Avhich 
it  is  nevertheless  our  business  to  relieve  when  it 
comes,  by  encouraging  and  teaching  lessons  of  pro- 
vident economy.     I  know  many  places  at  present, 
where  industrious  women  can  get  no  needle-work 
at  their  own  firesides,  because  they  are  so  completely 
under-sold  by  large  institutions,  in  which  the  ex- 
pense of  house-rent  and  coals  not  being  paid  by 
individuals,  the  work  can  be  done  much  cheaper. 
If  a  general  distribution  of  clothes  w^ere  made  to  the 
poor,  in  three  days  more  than  half  those   gratis 
v/ardrobes  would  be  lodged  at  the  pawnbroker's  ; 
and  in  considering  the  failings  and  defects  of  every 
human  scheme  for  the  general  advantage  we  can- 
not but  mournfully  exclaim   in   the   language   of 
Scripture,  "  Who  will  show  us  any  good  V*     The 
two  most  eminent  philanthropists  in  Scotland,  Dr. 
Chalmere  and  Dr.  Alison,  are  completely  opposed 


KIRKWALL.  91 

in  Opinion  respecting  the  most  eligible  plan  for  the 
poor;  but  while  we  lament  the  difficulty  of  ascer- 
taining what  is  best,  nothing,  at  the  same  time,  can 
exonerate  any  Christian  from  anxiously  studying 
this  important  subject,  and  conscientiously  expend- 
ing time  and  money,  according  to  his  utmost  ability, 
and  according  to  the  best  of  a  carefully  formed 
judgment,  on  the  great  Christian  object  of  succour- 
ing those  whom  our  Divine  Saviour  has  so  solemnly 
committed  to  our  care,  measuring  the  degree  of  our 
devotion  to  Himself  by  our  diligence  in  "  feeding 
the  hungry,  clothing  the  naked,  and  administering 
to  the  sick  ;"  yet  the  great  scriptural  rule  of  letting 
charity  be  so  private,  that  the  left  hand  shall  not 
know  what  the  right  hand  is  doing,  w^ould  forbid 
those  great  public  establishments,  which  are  in  many 
instances  pernicious  to  the  real  interests  of  those 
whom  they  are  intended  to  benefit ;  and  the  Bible 
surely  does  not  recognise  or  inculcate  any  general 
and  arbitrary  assessment,  which  is  to  be  deprecated, 
for  the  sake  of  the  poor,  whom  it  would  degrade  and 
demoralize,  more  than  even  for  the  w^ealthy,  on 
w^hom  it  would  become  every  year  more  oppressive 
and  severe. 

Mr.  Hamilton  mentioned,  as  an  instance  of  the 
generous  feelings  engendered  by  sympathy  in  dis- 
tress, that,  during  the  late  scarcit}^,  almost  amount- 
ing to  a  famine,  an  indigent  old  woman,  having 


92  KIRKWALL. 

been  presented  with  a  boll  of  meal,  divided  it 
equally  with  her  starving  neighbours.  It  always 
appears  to  me,  that,  in  this  world,  those  who  have 
real  miseries  bear  them  well,  and  those  who  have 
none  invent  some  petty  grievance  to  grumble  at ; 
for  some  people  endure  the  pleasures  of  life  less 
cheerfully  than  others  bear  its  greatest  calamities. 
A  very  indigent  girl,  not  long  since,  after  suffering 
all  the  saddest  privations  of  poverty,  met  with  an 
unfortunate  accident,  which  made  it  necessary  for 
the  doctors  to  amputate  her  leg;  but  when  they 
cautiously  imparted  this  frightful  prospect,  she 
calmly  replied,  "  Then  I  shall  now  have  a  leg  the 
less  to  endure  cold  from  !" 

It  was  grievous  in  many  places  to  hear  a  most 
heart-rending  description  of  w^hat  the  poor  High- 
landers suffered  last  season,  when  every  thing  short 
of  actual  starvation  was  uncomplainingly  undergone. 
It  lowered  the  value  of  the  property  so  much  to 
have  these  circumstances  knowTi,  that  in  some 
places  where  estates  were  to  be  sold,  the  proprietor 
forbid  any  application  on  behalf  of  his  tenantry  to 
the  relief  Committee,  in  consequence  of  which,  the 
funds,  raised  by  a  liberal  subscription,  were,  I  fear, 
very  unequally  distributed. 

Another  destitution,  of  yet  greater  importance,  is 
deeply  deplored  in  Scotland,  and  became  a  subject 
of  serious  discussion  among  the  clergy  as  we  ap- 


FAIR    ISLE.  93 

proached  Fair  Isle,  a  bright  green  spot,  like  an 
emerald  on  the  wide  ocean.  This  place  is  quite  a 
little  world  in  itself,  covered  with  grass  of  a  most 
vivid  and  luxuriant  verdure,  but  distant  twenty- 
four  miles  from  the  nearest  shore,  being  exactly- 
half-way  between  Orkney  and  Shetland, — and  there 
four  hundred  of  our  countrymen  live  and  die  with- 
out the  instructions  or  consolations  of  any  clergy- 
man. The  parish  to  which  they  belong  lies  in  a 
far  distant  island,  whence  Mr.  Thomson,  the  incum- 
bent, used  to  visit  them  once  in  a  season,  to  per- 
form all  the  marriages  and  christenings ;  but  now, 
being  eighty  years  of  age,  he  is  unable  to  encoun- 
ter the  fatigue  of  such  a  voyage  ;  and  it  was  men- 
tioned, that  the  last  time  a  clergyman  arrived  there, 
several  of  the  children  requiring  to  be  christened 
were  quite  old  and  iminstructed,  while  one  boy, 
when  the  service  was  performed  on  himself,  swore 
most  violently.  The  anxiety  of  these  neglected 
people  for  ministerial  teaching  is  so  extreme,  that 
they  will  laboriously  row  their  boat  any  distance  to 
bring  a  preacher,  and  only  ask  their  expenses  for 
taking  him  away,  as  it  is  considered  ample  remu- 
neration for  a  voyage  of  fifty  miles  to  hear  a  single 
sermon ;  and  Mr.  Watson  of  North  Yell  told  us, 
that  once,  when  detained  accidentally  beyond  Sun- 
day the  whole  population  crowded  round  him  to 
hear  the  gospel,  and  listened  with  fervent  attention. 


94  FAIR    ISLE. 

Many  rich  people  disapprove  loudly  of  foreign 
missions,  confidently  saying,  "  let  charity  begin  at 
home ;"  and  for  them  here  is  a  noble  opportunity. 
Neighbours  and  brethren  of  our  own,  who  have  lit- 
tle to  enjoy  here,  and  no  one  to  tell  them  of  happi- 
ness hereafter,  suffer  the  most  urgent  want,  while  a 
small  subscription  might  supply  the  moderate  wishes 
of  some  resident  clergyman,  who  would  be  wel- 
comed with  eager  and  grateful  delight,  bringing 
them  the  knowledge  which  they  seem  all  to  be 
thirsting  for. 

The  deputations  sent  by  charitable  societies 
travel  sometimes  now  at  a  most  preposterous  ex- 
pense. A  lady  assured  me  that  once  a  barouch 
and  four  arrived  at  her  house  in  the  Highlands,  con- 
taining four  gentlemen,  who  requested  leave  to  see 
her  pictures,  and  mentioned  that  they  w^ere  a  com- 
mittee of  clergymen  from  England,  collecting  funds 
for  some  religious  object.  Next  day  her  old  poul- 
try-woman found  several  tracts  scattered  along  the 
approach,  and  this  expedition  cost  several  hundred 
pounds,  besides  taking  more  than  one  clergyman 
away  from  his  own  charge.  This  is  a  wide  world, 
in  which  there  certainly  is  a  great  deal  of  good  to 
be  done,  but  as  none  of  us  are  like  the  tortoise,  who 
could  carry  the  whole  world  on  his  own  shoulders, 
men  who  would  really  be  useful  must  measure  the 
utmost  extent  of  their  own  individual  ability,  and 


FAIR    ISLE.  95 

do  the  very  most  which  is  possible,  without  attempt- 
ing more,  and  too  many  parish  clergymen  would 
wander  about  like  Wesley,  who  during  fifty  years 
never  travelled  less  than  4500  miles  annually.  It 
was  no  bad  jest  on  a  certain  itinerating  rector  of 
this  kind,  who  frequently  transferred  his  own  work 
to  a  substitute,  and  preached  in  any  parish  rather 
than  his  own,  that  he  should  be  nicknamed  "  Eng- 
land, because  he  expected  every  man  to  do  his 
duty." 

These  poor  Shetlanders  can  afford  no  expensive 
deputations,  but  the  half  of  what  W£is  paid  for  that 
one  excm^sion  which  I  have  described,  would  place 
them  permanently  under  the  blessed  influences  of 
gospel  light ',  therefore  I  beg  to  move  a  resolution, 
which  you  shall  second,  that  our  next  foreign  mis- 
sion shall  be  established  at  Fair  Isle.  How  much 
I  should  like  now  to  send  round  a  plate  for  your 
subscriptions  !  In  that  case,  a  missionary  need  not 
laboriously  acquire  any  difficult  language,  nor  has 
he  either  a  new  religion  to  introduce  or  an  old  su- 
perstition to  destroy,  while  he  would  be  gratefully 
welcomed  by  a  people,  many  of  whom  are  mourn- 
fully sensible  of  their  unhappy  religious  privations, 
and  those  who  are  not,  need  only  the  more  urgently 
to  be  made  aware  of  them.  We  find  more  excite- 
ment in  sending  to  foreign  heathens, — and  they 
require  all  we  can  do, — but  there  are  heathens  at 


96  FAIR   ISLE. 

home  with  a  yet  nearer  claim  to  pity,  though  less 
attractive  to  the  fancy.  I  heard  of  a  missionary 
meeting  lately,  at  which  a  Cherokee  chief  was  pro- 
duced, covered  with  tatooing  and  feathers,  to  pray 
in  his  own  unknow^n  tongue,  before  a  numerous 
congregation,  and  to  make  a  speech  extempore,  or 
extnnnpery  as  you  say.  Our  poor  Zetlanders  would 
have  no  chance  in  comparison,  yet  the  time  and 
money  expended  by  a  foreign  missionary  on  his 
long  journey,  besides  studying  Malabar  or  Hindos- 
tanee,  and  diving  into  the  depths  of  Brahmin  mytho- 
logy, might  be  occupied  with  far  more  immediate 
advantage  if  he  set  forth  at  once  with  the  English 
Bible  in  his  hand,  to  teach  a  people  nearly  as  igno- 
rant as  any  barbarians,  but  far  more  willing  to 
learn  ;  and  those  who  contributed  to  so  desirable  an 
object,  might  hope  to  reap  a  harvest  of  immediate 
success,  and  to  be  blessed  by  the  prayers  of  many 
whom  they  had  assisted  to  rescue  from  darkness, 
and  to  place  in  the  marvellous  light  of  the  gospel. 

In  old  times,  the  Duke  of  Medina  Sidonia's  ship, 
the  Invincible,  commanding  the  Spanish  Armada, 
w^as  wrecked  off  Fair  Isle,  when  most  of  the  crew, 
amounting  to  tw^o  hundred  men,  landed  in  fishing- 
boats.  So  numerous  a  swarm  of  guests  would  soon 
have  occasioned  a  famine,  therefore  the  natives 
murdered  several,  and  hospitably  entertained  the 
rest.     If  supernumerary  guests  could  be  lawfully 


FAIR    ISLE.  97 

disposed  of  in  this  way,  what  a  massacre  would  take 
place  at  some  dinner  parties  we  have  seen.  Both 
hosts  and  visiters  were  rescued  from  approaching 
starvation  at  last  by  the  appearance  of  a  ship  from 
Lerwick.  On  that  occasion,  the  Duke  appeared 
near  the  shore  to  welcome  his  deliverers,  in  the 
splendid  costume  of  a  Spanish  nobleman,  but  Mal- 
colm Sinclair,  a  sturdy  Presbyterian,  w^ho  had  come 
to  entertain  these  foreign  papists  with  all  the  rites 
of  hospitality-,  nevertheless  remarked,  on  being  in- 
troduced to  his  distinguished  guest,  "  I  have  seen 
many  prettier  men  hanged  on  the  Burrow-muir !" 

These  long  twihghts  are  very  enjoyable,  and  I 
often  wish  that  those  who  have  more  time  than  they 
know  how  to  use,  could  transfer  a  few  superfluous 
hours  to  those  who  find  every  day  too  short  for  half 
what  they  wish  to  do ;  but  now^  that  the  stars  are 
lighting  their  lamps  it  is  time  for  me  to  extinguish 
mine.  Since  paper  pillows  are  in  fashion,  you  will 
know  how  to  dispose  of  too  lengthy  a  letter,  so  I 
must  beware  of  being  reduced  to  atoms,  though  it 
would  sound  extremely  civil  to  tell  a  long-winded 
correspondent,  that  you  never  lie  down  without  pla- 
cing her  letters  under  your  head, — pray  do  not  sub- 
join that  they  put  you  to  sleep.    "  We're  a'  noddin'." 


LERWICK. 


1  hope  there's  none  offended 
At  me  for  telling  this  ; 
For  it  was  not  intended 
To  be  ta'en  amiss. 

Burns. 

My  dear  Cousin, — Can  this  possibly  be  me  at 
Lerwick  !  I  begin  to  think  it  may  not  be  a  dream ! 
You  once  said,  in  an  extravagant  moment,  that  any 
letter  was  worth  any  money,  so  I  hope  you  will  re- 
tain the  same  opinion,  while  I  now  dip  the  pen  of 
astonishment  in  the  ink  of  veracity,  that,  since  you 
have  never  been  sufficiently  enterprising  to  travel 
so  far,  you  may  become  proud  of  being  related  to 
any  one  who  has,  after  hearing  all  our  adventures 
by  flood  and  field. 

"When  a  gentleman  once  mentioned  having  gone 
to  see  the  lion  at  Exeter  'Change,  a  friend  satirically 
inquired,  "  What  did  the  lion  think  of  you  1"  rather 
a  perplexing  question  ;  but  I  hope  our  lions  here  are 
as  much  pleased  with  us  as  we  are  with  them,  see- 
ing I  am  already  more  than  rewarded  for  taking 
this  very  long  step  towards  the  Arctic  circle,  and 
planting  my  standard  on  the  Castle  of  Lerwick. 


LERWICK.  99 

A  lady  in  Caithness,  during  one  of  our  most  un- 
favourable summers,  when  every  thing  looked 
brown,  parched,  and  barren,  became  astonished  to 
hear  a  stranger  talking  in  raptures  about  the  richly 
verdant  thriving  appearance  of  all  the  scenery  in 
our  country.  Of  course  she  supposed  him  in  jest, 
till  it  turned  out,  on  inquiry,  that  he  was  a  native 
of  Shetland !  Certainly  here  we  see  little  beside 
grass  and  rocks,  yet  I  admire  beyond  measure  the 
bold  massy  features  of  the  landscape,  glittering  be- 
neath a  rising  sun  ;  and  there  is  something  in  it  of 
unadorned  magnificence  very  striking  to  a  stranger. 

Lerwick  is  one  of  the  oldest-looking  towns  I 
ever  remember  to  have  inspected,  and  appears  like 
a  small  burlesque  upon  Venice,  a  range  of  houses 
being  drilled  along  the  shore,  all  standing  up  to 
their  knees  in  water,  while  the  sea  washes  six  feet 
deep  on  their  foundations ;  and  instead  of  dark  gon- 
dolas, like  coffins,  floating  about  on  the  crj'stal 
waves,  we  have  light  graceful  skiffs  ghding  rapidly 
along,  bending  their  large  white  sails  almost  into 
the  surf. 

Last  week  sixty-three  Dutch  fishing-vessels 
sailed  at  once  out  of  this  beautiful  and  commodious 
harbour  in  the  Sound  of  Brassay;  and  residents 
here  all  keep  a  boat  instead  of  a  carriage  or  cart, 
being  their  only  means  of  conveyance.  No  seaman 
but  a   Zetlander   could  manage  these  very  small 


100  LERWICK. 

canoes,  like  wherries  from  the  Thames,  with  the 
sails  of  most  disproportionate  magnitude  ;  but  they 
manoeuvre  about  in  beautiful  style,  and  the  natives 
seem  all  nearly  amphibious,  looking  as  if  they  sat 
upon  a  dolphin,  and  holding  the  sail  by  a  rope, 
which  is  let  fly  the  moment  a  blast  rises,  throwing 
the  sheet  instantly  at  Hberty.  Accidents,  however, 
do  happen  only  too  frequently  on  these  rough  and 
dangerous  seas ;  and  it  is  a  singular  custom,  that 
drowned  persons  are  always  buried  far  from  the 
ocean,  as  if  their  spirits  might  still  be  disturbed  by 
the  horrors  attending  their  decease.  Do  you  remem- 
ber Lady ,  when  she  heard  the  sudden  intelli- 
gence that  a  gentleman  had  been  accidentally 
drowned  in  the  river,  close  to  her  windows,  instantly 
inquired,  as  her  very  first  question,  "  Was  he  hand- 


some I 


7" 


This  is  the  first  year  that  a  tolerable  inn  has 
been  established  at  Lerwick,  which  is  considered  a 
most  remarkable  era,  and  the  style  is  about  equal  to 
that  on  board  a  second-rate  steam-boat,  being  con- 
ducted by  a  most  respectable  landlord  from  East 
Lothian.  If  any  wealthy  traveller,  wishing  to  be 
remarkably  comfortable,  had  brought  his  own  car- 
riage and  horses  to  Lerwick,  he  could  not  have 
penetrated  beyond  the- pier,  and  by  no  possible  con- 
trivance could  his  equipage  have  been  available  in 
driving  up  to  the  hotel,  which  is  in  so  narrow  a 


LERWICK.  101 

street,  that  A could  easily  have  made  a  long 

arm  to  touch  the  opposite  house.  I  remember  once 
meeting  an  English  lady  going  by  steam  to  Staffa, 
who  said  it  was  her  intention  immediately  on  land- 
ing to  order  a  post-chaise,  and  drive  all  round  the 
island,  but  neither  there  nor  here  would  the  plan  be 
very  feasible,  as  not  a  wheel  is  stirring  in  the  noise- 
less streets.     That  pe6vish  Mrs. ,  the  morning 

after  her  arrival  at  Venice,  complained  that  she  had 
been  so  disturbed  by  "  the  noise  of  carriages  !"  it  was 
impossible  to  close  an  eye  ;  but  the  streets  at  Ler- 
wick are  about  equally  carriageless,  being  a  curious 
assortment  of  courts,  connected  by  lanes,  and  inter- 
sected by  stairs,  one  of  which  divides  the  High 
Street  quite  across,  and  some  of  the  streets  are  even 
arched  over  at  the  top. 

The  only  road  in  Shetland  goes  six  miles  to- 
wards Scalloway  Castle,  and  we  were  told  that  but 
one  gentleman  ever  had  a  carriage  here,  when  he 
used  to  drive  his  wife  several  times  up  and  down 
the  whole  distance,  to  give  her  an  idea  what  a 
journey  means.  It  might  be  said  of  him,  as  your 
old  friend  used  to  remark  of  her  English  relation, 
with  a  look  of  great  importance,  "  He  is  the  rich- 
est man  in  London !  he  keeps  his  chariot !"  The 
short  road  to  Scalloway  is,  like  all  short  cuts,  nearly 
impassable,  leading  over  a  peat-bog,  to  be  cleared 
in  a  succession  of  leaps,  but  if  any  one  wishes  to 
9* 


102  LERWICK. 

see  a  Shetland  pony  shine,  he  should  mount  on  his 
back,  the  heavier  the  better,  and  perform  a  steeple 
chase  over  all  the  chasms  and  walls  which  lie  in  the 
way  along  the  fine  "  corduroy  road."  Walking  is, 
of  course,  a  most  necessary  accomplishment  in  this 
country,  where  the  shoes  are  made  of  materials  so 
very  substantial,  that  an  old  gentleman  used  to  say, 
he  w^ore  in  the  morning  three  rows  of  nails  on  the 
sole,. but  for  full  dress  only  two  row^s. 

Some  spirited  proprietors  projected  great  im- 
provements here  in  road-making,  and  w^ould  have 
summoned  M'Adam  himself  from  the  deep  ;  but  un- 
luckily one  landlord,  a  soi-disant  baronet,  has,  with 
short-sighted  economy,  put  a  spoke  in  all  their 
wheels,  refusing  to  let  a  stone  be  broken  unless 
some  very  extravagant  terms  be  conceded.  This  un- 
fortunate impediment  must  be  a  great  annoyance  to 
all  the  residents,  and  I  wish  they  could  be  delivered 
from  it,  "  To  be  disposed  of, — an  old  established 
grievance, — going  very  cheap  !"  Nothing  but  an 
act  of  Parliament  can  lay  down  a  road  here  now, 
such  as  had  been  projected,  not  that  the  ambition  of 
Shetland  pointed  to  a  mail  with  four  horses,  attended 
by  a  guard  blowing  his  horn,  and  flying  round  the 
islands  to  carry  tourists  round  Noss  and  Scalloway ; 
but  no  one  can  tell  what  half  a  centuiy  may  pro- 
duce, and  on  my  next  excursion  to  this  region,  I 
have  promised  to  bring  my  chariot,  while  our  friends 


LERWICK.  103 

have  undertaken  to  provide  a  suitable  road.  Per- 
haps you  may  Hve  to  see  some  time  a  railv^ray,  hke 
a  great  iron  hoop,  surrounding  Great  Britain,  with 
the  whole  population  circling  round  at  full  speed,  as 
we  see  children  at  a  fair,  wheeling  along  on  a  "  turn 
about." 

The  introduction  of  a  weekly  steamboat  to  Shet- 
land has  begun  a  new  era  in  this  country.  For- 
merly all  communication  w^ith  other  places  became 
so  tedious  and  uncertain,  that  none  could  be  safely 
depended  on.  A  few  years  since,  one  of  the  princi- 
pal merchants  here,  who  possessed  more  than  twenty 
*ships  of  his  own,  became  so  anxious  for  letters,  that 
he  sailed  oiFto  inquire  for  them  personally  at  Edin- 
burgh. There  the  postmaster  objected  to  deliver 
any,  saying,  it  would  be  too  great  an  advantage  to 
give  him  over  the  other  mercantile  houses  at  Ler- 
wick, if  he  obtained  his  correspondence  so  prema- 
turely, and  it  was  not  until  after  the  greatest  diffi- 
culty, and  legally  proving  his  identity,  that  he  could 
obtain  the  packet. 

The  lower  orders  in  Shetland  seem  rather  be- 
neath the  middle  size,  especially  when  compared  to 
the  tall  Dutch  skippers,  stalking  about  in  loose 
tunics,  high  caps,  and  heavy  wooden  clogs,  which 
seem  a  most  uncomfortable  article  of  dress,  being 
excavated  in  a  solid  block  of  wood,  as  if  the  foot 
had  supernaturally  forced  its  way  in.     We  used  to 


104  LERWICK. 

read  in  the  Richmond  play  bills,  of  a  hornpipe  to  be 
danced  on  the  stage  in  wooden  shoes,  but  here  it 
could  neither  be  light  nor  fantastic,  as  these  slippers, 
liable  to  be  shuffled  off  at  every  step,  seem  made  to 
impede  walking.  The  Dutch  sailors  exchange 
shoes  mth  the  Shetlanders  for  stockings,  so  that 
their  traffic  is  easily  set  on  foot. 

The  sheep  in  these  islands  look  like  goats  or 
greyhounds,  having  long  legs,  and  lank  bodies,  and 
their  colour  is  of  that  peculiar  brown  and  blue 
which  the  Shetland  stockings  usually  exhibit. 
Some  are  speckled  of  various  hues,  and  go  by  the 
name  of  Jacob's  sheep,  though  not  lineal  descend- 
ants of  that  flock.  All  the  ladies  here  employ  their 
long  evenings  in  knitting ;  and  even  the  hard-work- 
ing women,  when  carrying  on  their  backs  the  enor- 
mous heavy  "  creels"  which  are  used  here  instead 
of  carts,  yet  contrive  to  have  a  perpetual  stocking 
on  hand.  I  met  one  cleanly  dressed  chatty  old  gos- 
sip, the  sort  of  looking  personage  who  hobbles  on 
the  stage  at  the  beginning  of  a  farce,  exclaiming, 
"  How  my  old  bones  do  ache  !"  and  she  assured  me 
with  great  exultation,  that  she  manufactured  a  stock- 
ing per  day,  and  that  every  article  she  wore  was 
entirely  of  her  own  spinning.  I  liked  to  see  her 
honest  pride,  and  if  the  gown  had  been  French  cam- 
bric, she  could  scarcely  have  expected  me  to  admire 
it  more. 


LERWICK.  105 

Before  inns  were  invented  at  Lerwick,  the  pro- 
prietors and  merchants  kept  open  house  for  all 
strangers  without  exception,  and  must  often,  I  should 
guess,  have  found  occasion  to  look  over  the  inven- 
tory of  their  plate,  when  exercising  such  boundless 
hospitality.  A  party  of  well-dressed,  plausible 
looking  foreigners  arrived  here  once,  and  having 
previously  ascertained  the  names  and  connections  of 
all  the  chief  inhabitants,  they  passed  muster  during 
several  weeks,  living  at  the  principal  house  on  the 
island.  One  Sunday,  however,  their  hospitable  host 
was  privately  beckoned  aside  by  a  friend,  who  had 
observed  his  companions  in  the  pew  at  church,  and 
recognised  them  as  a  party  of  well-known  black- 
legs from  Paris!  He  recommended  their  being 
ejected  from  the  house,  in  the  most  expeditious  man- 
ner possible,  but  their  entertainer  replied,  with 
characteristic  liberality,  that,  "  though  he  would 
now  be  on  his  guard  against  imposition,  yet  while 
his  guests  continued  to  behave  like  gentlemen,  he 
would  persevere  in  treating  them  as  such."  Previ- 
ous to  departing,  the  ungrateful  visiters  attempted 
some  swindHng  transactions,  which  were,  of  course, 
counteracted,  owing  to  this  timely  detection,  and 
they  were  opprobriously  dismissed  from  Shetland ; 
but,  unfortimately,  their  schemes  prospered  better 
in  Orkney,  where  they  afterwards  cheated  some 
merchants  to  a  large  amount ;  and  it  was  a  curious 


106  LERWICK. 

termination  of  the  whole  aifair,  that  upon  leaving 
Kirkwall,  they  very  handsomely  transmitted  to  the 
parish  clergyman  £5  for  the  poor  !  This  was  an 
amusing  sort  of  Robin  Hood  generosity,  but  some 
w^ho  deem  it  right  to  refuse  money  collected  for 
charitable  purposes,  unless  they  approve  of  the 
means  by  which  it  has  been  raised,  would  be  rather 
perplexed  how  to  dispose  of  such  a  donation. 

Among  countless  instances  of  peculiar  hospi- 
tality, it  may  be  mentioned,  that  a  Mr.  Bruce  re- 
ceived into  his  house  some  years  ago,  forty  Russian 
shipwrecked  sailors,  maintained  them  during  the 
whole  winter,  and  sent  the  entire  crew,  at  his  own 
expense,  back  to  their  native  country.  He  dechned 
receiving  any  recompense,  but  the  Empress  Cathe- 
rine privately  obtained  an  impression  of  his  family 
seal,  sent  it  over  land  to  China,  and  ordered  a  mag- 
nificent dinner  service  of  the  finest  porcelain  to  be 
manufactured  for  him  without  delay.  By  some  un- 
fortunate oversight,  the  box  containing  this  precious 
gift  was  seized  at  the  custom  house,  and  sold  to  a 
Mr.  Reid,  in  whose  possession  it  still  remains,  though 
I  cannot  but  grudge  him  every  dinner  he  eats  off  it. 
Mr.  Bruce,  while  he  lived,  lighted  a  large  fire  every 
winter  night  close  to  the  shore,  and  had  a  barrel  of 
meal  ready  to  be  cooked  into  porridge,  for  distribu- 
tion among  any  number  of  poor  sailors  visiting  those 
distant  shores.    They  were  also  allowed  clean  straw 


LERWICK.  107 

to  sleep  on  at  night,  when  unable  otherwise  to  pro- 
cure a  bed. 

The  gentry  at  Lerwick  are  still  so  extremely 
kind  to  strangers,  that  our  landlord  should  lock  up 
his  guests,  as  the  only  chance  of  keeping  any,  or  he 
may  perhaps  be  provoked  at  last  to  act  like  the  inn- 
keeper at  Luss,  who,  finding  himself  nearly  ruined 
by  the  parish  clergyman  beguiling  away  all  his 
visiters,  at  last  one  night  carried  his  sign  to  the 
manse  and  nailed  it  over  the  door. 

One  of  the  most  uncommon  subjects  for  aston- 
ishment, to  a  stranger,  in  Shetland,  is,  when  he 
first  discovers  the  very  near  neighbourhood  of  every 
gentleman's  town  and  country  house.  The  two  are 
generally  within  sight  of  each  other !  We  w^ere 
shown  Mr.  Mouat's  elegant  residence  in  Lerwick, 
and  looking  full  in  its  face,  from  the  opposite  side 
of  a  narrow  bay,  stands  Gardie  House,  his  country- 
seat!  It  is  a  large,  handsome,  well-windowed 
house,  which  seems  to  be  staring  about  on  every 
side  and  wondering  when  the  trees  will  come  up. 
Mr.  Ogilvy  has,  what  Robins  the  auctioneer  would 
call  a  most  magnificent  and  desirable  country  resi- 
dence, surrounded  by  gardens,  terraces,  and  offices 
on  an  extensive  scale,  but,  by  the  help  of  a  speaking- 
trumpet,  you  might  deliver  a  verbal  message  from 
his  drawing-room  in  the  country  to  his  drawing- 
room  in  town ;  and  Mr.  Hay's  rural  retreat  is  ex- 


108  LERWICK. 

actly  a  ten  minutes'  walk  from  his  mansion  in  Ler- 
wick. All  the  principal  families  here  make  a 
regular  "  flitting"  every  season,  from  town  to 
country,  probably  leaving  their  P  P  C  cards  for  each 
other,  and,  after  taking  a  pathetic  leave  of  the  me- 
tropolitan gayeties,  set  out,  by  easy  stages,  changing 
horses  as  often  as  may  be  necessary,  and  plunging 
into  the  wilderness  of  rural  enjoyment  within  half  a 
mile.  In  London,  those  who  have  no  estates  often 
close  their  front  windows  for  the  siunmer,  and  with- 
draw out  of  sight,  while  etiquette  forbids  their  being 
visible  in  town,  and  to  the  Shetland  gentry  the 
change  is  scarcely  greater.  If  a  Court  Circular  be 
ever  established  at  Lerwick  w^e  shall  read  a  hst  of 

FASHIONABLE    CHANGES. 

Mr.  Mouat,  for  the  summer,  from  the  north  to 
the  south  side  of  Lerwick  Bay.  Mr.  Ogilvy  and 
family,  half  a  mile  west,  for  change  of  air.  Mr. 
Ployen,  from  Feroe,  on  a  southern  tour  in  Shetland 
and  Orkney ! 

Fort  Charlotte,  at  Lerwick, — an  imposing  old 
fortification  all  bristling  round  with  guns, — is  in 
good  repair,  and  serves  partly  as  a  jail,  where  we 
saw  four  youths  under  fourteen,  one  of  whom  was 
a  gentleman's  son,  confined  in  solitary  cells,  for  a 
burglary  committed  at  Orkney,  when  they  robbed 
an  old  man  of  eighteenpence.     They  all  maintained 


LERWICK*  109 

that  the  money  was  immediately  to  have  been  re- 
turned, as  they  merely  intended  a  jest,  but  the  law 
does  not  understand  such  practical  jokes.  The 
jailer's  wife  said,  within  hearing  of  the  young  crim- 
inals, while  tears  started  to  her  eyes,  that  she  never 
had  seen  more  excellent  boys,  and  pronounced  their 
panegyric  in  terms  so  glowing,  that  a  gentleman 
present  thought  it  full  time  to  remind  her  and  the 
prisoners  that  such  unqualified  praise  could  scarcely 
be  merited  by  young  gentlemen  placed  under  her 
husband's  lock  and  key. 

A  stranger,  who  had  landed  with  us  from  the 
steam-boat,  was  much  entertained  by  a  corporal 
who  accosted  him,  when  wandering  about  the  fort 
alone,  and  announced  with  great  official  importance, 
that  he  was  "  the  Governor  !^'  adding  the  important 
fact,  that  four  thousand  pounds  of  gunpowder  were 
placed  under  his  charge,  but  on  inquiring  it  came 
out  that  he  has  no  authority  to  fire,  even  if  an  enemy 
appear,  and  that  he  has  the  command  of  no  garrison 
but  himself.  A  party  of  mischievous  boys  at  Ler- 
wick, on  one  occasion,  alarmed  the  whole  surround- 
ing country,  by  privately  loading  one  of  the  super- 
annuated cannons  at  Fort  Charlotte  and  firing  it  off! 
Some  part  of  the  wall  was  shattered,  in  consequence 
of  an  extra  charge  having  been  thrust  in,  and  a  sen- 
sation was  occasioned  by  the  explosion  like  that 
caused  to  Sir  Walter  Scott's  Antiquary  when  the 
10 


110  LERWICK. 

beacon-fire  at  Fairport  was  lighted.  The  whole 
population  of  Lerwick  flew  to  ascertain  what  en- 
emy had  landed  to  take  possession  of  the  island,  and 
we  can  scarcely  wonder  at  some  panic  being  ex- 
cited, considering  that  the  nearest  naval  force  which 
can  be  summoned  to  protect  any  part  of  Scotland  is 
stationed  at  Chatham.  If  Paul  Jones  had  a  suc- 
cessor, he  might  land  in  Shetland  any  day,  as  he  did 
once  in  Galloway,  and  take  the  very  tea-pots  off  the 
breakfast-tables. 

On  the  last  birth-day  which  George  the  Fouilh 
lived  to  see,  the  flag-staff  at  Lerwick  Castle  fell 
prostrate  to  the  earth,  which  was  afterwards  con- 
sidered a  prophetic  omen.  The  very  same  pole  is 
now  so  insufficiently  propped  up  that  all  well- 
wdshers  of  her  present  Majesty  should  subscribe  to 
raise  one,  which  shall  promise,  by  its  firmness,  to  see 
out  the  present  century,  or  longer,  if  possible.  Loyal 
as  the  inhabitants  of  Shetland  are,  how^ever,  their 
woods  and  forests  could  scarcely  supply  so  much  as 
a  pair  of  Dutch  clogs,  and  still  less  a  new  flag-staff, 
but  we  must  suppose  the  trees  were  all  cut  down  to 
show  the  sea  views,  which  are  so  very  fine.  The 
tallest  and  grandest  tree  I  saw  during  my  stay  on 
the  island,  was  a  stalk  of  rhubarb  nearly  seven  feet 
high,  w^hich  had  rim  to  seed,  and  waved  its  head 
majestically  in  a  garden  below  the  fort,  looking  quite 
shady  and  ornamental.     It  had  been  planted  by 


LERWICK.  Ill 

some  officers,  and  really  did  them  great  credit.  The 
Arabians  have  a  proverb,  which  I  wish  we  may  all 
live  to  see  realized  here,  "  Be  patient,  and  the  mul- 
berry-leaf ^^dll  become  satin." 

I  expected  to  observe  Shetland  ponies  galloping 
in  every  field,  but  they  are  chiefly  running  wild 
among  the  distant  unenclosed  hills,  where,  in  most 
instances,  the  fore-legs  are  manacled  together. 
Nothing  is  trusted  to  the  honour  of  a  Shetland 
poney,  but  they  are  all  shackled  in  a  most  uneasy 
manner,  hobbling  along  like  rabbits,  which  incon- 
venient contrivance  ruins  their  paces  afterwards. 
When  well  fed  from  an  early  age,  they  grow  nearly 
to  the  height  of  a  donkey,  but  some  years  ago,  Mr. 
Hay  reared  a  perfectly  well-formed  poney,  which 
measured  only  twenty-six  inches  high.  Not  so  tall 
as  a  moderate-sized  hobby-horse !  I  have  heard 
sportsmen  talk  in  praise  of  a  horse  that  would  can- 
ter round  a  cabbage-leaf,  but  here  was  one  literally 
capable  of  doing  so.  The  veiy  largest  men  ride 
these  tiny  little  creatures  at  full  speed,  looking  from 
a  distance  as  if  they  had  merely  hooked  on  a  pair 
of  additional  legs,  being  scarcely  raised  a  foot  off 
the  ground,  and  yet  racing  rapidly  along.  How 
would  a  regiment  of  calvary  look,  mounted,  or  low- 
ered rather,  on  these  stout  little  chargers  ! 

Many  very  curious  arctic   birds  stray  over  to 
this  country,  and  I  have  seen  one  most  beautiful 


112  LERWICK. 

snow-owl,  wliicli  had  been  killed  in  this  neighbour- 
hood, as  large  as  an  eagle,  and  the  colour  of  a  swan- 
down  muff.  Eider  ducks  are  veiy  abundant,  and 
eagles  so  very  destructive,  that  five  shillings  a-head 
used  to  be  given  for  shooting  them.  Swans  appear 
in  great  flocks  during  spring.  I  dare  say  you  have 
not  forgotten  our  friend,  who  said  he  had  very  near- 
ly sent  you  a  swan-down  muff  from  the  Highlands, 
and  when  we  asked  an  explanation  of  the  reason 
why  so  welcome  a  present  never  came,  it  turned 
out  that  he  had  merely  "  seen  a  flight  of  wild  swans 
over  his  head,  and  wished  he  had  a  gun !" 

Of  course  all  the  birds  here  must  live  on  the 
ground,  having  neither  hedges  nor  trees  in  which 
to  form  a  colony,  but  the  plovers  and  other  unam- 
bitious kinds  make  themselves  quite  at  home.  I  am 
told  the  crows  build  their  nests  of  fish-bones,  as  a 
substitute  for  sticks,  which  shows  a  great  deal  of 
genius,  equal  to  that  of  the  Greenlanders,  who  form 
their  houses  of  whalebone.  It  is  interesting  thus  to 
observe  how  nearly  instinct  can  approach  to  reason, 
in  adapting  means  to  an  end,  but  the  one  is  born  at 
once  to  its  utmost  perfection,  and  the  other  is  culti- 
vated or  destroyed  by  the  possessor,  according  as  he 
employs  it,  and  may  be  advanced,  if  used  in  a  Chris- 
tian spirit,  to  higher  and  higher  perfection  every 
day,  stretching  from  earth  to  heaven,  till  it  reaches 
the  ceaseless  progress  of  an  eternal  existence. 


LERWICK.  113 

Nature  is  outlined  along  this  coast  on  so  mag- 
nificent a  scale,  that  we  scarcely  miss  the  softer 
touches,  which  give  grace  and  beauty  to  a  land- 
scape. All  that  rock  and  water  can  do,  is  done ; 
and  while  ornamental  vegetation  is  entirely  wanting, 
that  which  is  useful  seems  abundant,  especially  in 
the  valley  of  Tingwall,  where  grain  and  vegetables 
ripen  in  their  utmost  perfection  ;  the  pasture  is  so 
excellent,  it  would  have  transported  an  Argyleshire 
laird,  who  was  asked  some  time  since  whether  he 
had  been  disappointed  in  his  first  view  of  StafFa, 
when  he  replied,  "  Quite  the  contrary  !  I  was  told 
the  island  pastured  only  tw^enty  sheep,  and  I  counted 
fourscore  !" 

The  labour  and  expense  to  which  several  pro- 
prietors have  gone,  in  cultivating  trees  and  gardens, 
do  prodigious  honour  to  their  perseverance,  patriot- 
ism, and  taste ;  but  in  a  climate  where  gooseberries 
scarcely  ripen  on  the  wall,  and  apples  are  unknown, 
what  can  be  done  ?  We  have  all  a  tendency  to 
that  respectable  weakness  of  thinking  our  own 
country  the  best  in  the  world,  and  the  enterprising 
cultivators  here,  may  console  themselves  about  their 
unproductive  soil,  by  saying,  as  the  Duke  of  Wel- 
lington said  of  his  army,  "  It  is  given  to  me  to  make 
the  best  of !" 

The  youngest  children  in  Shetland  can  make  an 
income  of  twenty  shilhngs  per  annum,  by  catching 
10* 


114  LERWICK. 

the  small  fish  named  "sillocks,  or  pars,"  abounding 
in  swarms  here,  which  owe  their  value  to  the  oil 
extracted  from  them,  two  thousand  barrels  of  which 
were  manufactured  in  one  year,  from  those  diminu- 
tive fry,  not  measuring  above  four  or  five  inches 
long.  Thus  food  and  light  become  easily  accessi- 
ble in  a  comitry  where  grain  is  scarce,  and  where 
the  days  are  not  over  long. 

In  the  churchyard  at  TingAvall,  this  inscription 
appears  on  an  old  tomb-stone,  "  Here  lies  an  honest 
man  !"  It  seems  like  an  implied  imputation  on  all 
those  bm'ied  near  him.  There  is  more  truth  perhaps 
in  that  simple  memorial,  than  in  a  panegyrical  epi- 
taph I  was  busy  reading  at  a  certain  cathedral 
lately,  wondering  how  so  great  and  good  a  man 
could  ever  have  been  spared  out  of  the  world,  when 
the  beadle,  observing  my  occupation,  quietly  said, 
*'  He  w^as  the  very  reverse,  ma'am,  of  all  you  see 
there !" 

We  had  an  excellent  sermon  at  Lerwdck  from 
the  parish  clergyman,  Mr.  Barclay,  formerly  pro- 
fessor of  elocution  at  Aberdeen.  He  gave  us  so 
edifying  an  address,  that  if  I  could  attend  church  in 
Shetland  without  crossing  the  sea,  it  would  give  me 
pleasure  to  go  often.  The  innkeeper  conducted  us 
to  his  own  pew,  and  I  had  scarcely  time  to  settle 
myself  comfortably,  before  the  clerk,  a  most  res- 
pectable man  in  black  robes,  began  publishing,  in 


LERWICK.  115 

an  easy  gossiping  tone,  the  banns  of  several  mar- 
riages !  Not  seeing  any  objection  to  the  proposed 
alhances,  I  forbade  none  of  them,  but  began  specu- 
lating how  it  could  possibly  happen,  that  in  this 
strange  place,  the  clerk's  voice  and  physiognomy 
seemed  quite  familiar  to  me.  He  sung  particularly 
well,  being  one  of  the  best  "  precentors"  I  know, 
and  after  a  moment's  perplexity,  it  flashed  across 
my  recollection,  that  this  was  actually  "  mine  host" 
from  the  bar !  We  almost  expected  to  find  a  charge 
for  the  pew  in  his  bill,  but  our  expenses  from  be- 
ginning to  end  in  Shetland  could  scarcely  cover  the 
point  of  a  pin. 

Nothing  could  exceed  the  hospitality  and  kind- 
ness we  received  from  Mr.  Hay,  w^ho  is  quite  a 
northern  lord  of  the  isles,  his  name  being  as  inti- 
mately connected  w^th  Shetland  as  Bonaparte's  wdth 
St.  Helena,  and  his  house  becomes  a  home  to  every 
stranger  who  reaches  these  shores.  A  great  dis- 
tinction is  made  here  between  "  Scotchmen  and 
Shetlanders ;"  but  the  Scotch  hospitality,  for  which 
we  are  justly  celebrated,  is  almost  outdone  by  our 
northern  neighbours,  many  of  whom  were  most  kind- 
ly urgent  that  we  should  measure  our  visit  by  wrecks 
rather  than  by  hours.  I  have  promised,  if  any  wind 
blows  me  here  again,  to  remain  as  many  days  as 
will  enable  us  to  see  every  thing  thoroughly ;  so, 
considering  what  scarce  commodities  good  days  are, 


1 16  LERWICK. 

our  visit  may  probably  extend  throughout  a  whole 
season. 

On  Monday  we  discussed  in  long  and  anxious 
debate  with  Mr.  Hay  how  that  one  only  morning 
we  had  for  seeing  all  Shetland,  could  be  most  ad- 
vantageously disposed  of,  and  he  entered  into  our 
case  with  the  same  mature  deliberation  as  if  I  had 
consulted  him  about  the  investment  of  my  whole 
fortune.  The  day  threatened  every  thing !  wind, 
rain,  mist,  and  cold  !  nothing  could  look  more  un- 
propitious,  but  still  some  adventure  must  be  achieved, 
and  as  we  could  not  visit  both  Scalloway  Castle 
and  Noss  Cradle,  we  weighed  the  castle  against  the 
precipice,  balancing  and  re-balancing  their  merits 
with  the  most  careful  precision,  and  puzzled  beyond 
measure  which  must  kick  the  beam.  At  last  it  sud- 
denly occurred  to  me  that  I  can  see  a  castle  any  day, 
but  such  a  cradle  as  that  of  Noss  never,  therefore 
the  scale  began  to  preponderate  greatly,  when  Mr. 
Hay  being  summoned  on  business  to  Lerwick,  com- 
mitted us  to  the  custody  of  his  son,  ordering  ponies 
to  the  door  in  case  w^e  preferred  Scalloway,  and  a 
boat  if  we  determined  to  try  a  second  childhood  in 
the  cradle. 

As  Burns  remarked,  "  the  plans  of  mice  and 
men  are  liable  to  go  awry."  Nine  hours  after- 
wards, when  Mr.  Hay  returned,  he  found  us  still 
seated  in  the  drawing-room,  having  seen  neither  the 


LERWICK.  117 

one  place  nor  the  other,  as  unfortunately  a  squall  of 
wind,  with  bitter  torrents  of  rain,  had  come  on,  ac- 
companied by  a  fog,  which  cut  the  head  off  every 
precipice  and  hill.  It  was  the  sort  of  rain  that  never 
stops,  being  dogged-looking  and  obstinate,  proceed- 
ing from  large  mountainous  clouds,  hanging  heavily 
down,  as  if  Ben  Lomond  and  Schiehallion  had 
mounted  overhead,  therefore  we  resigned  ourselves 
to  a  very  pleasant  chat  in  the  house,  with  the 
agreeable  family  circle  of  Mr.  Hay,  joined  by  Mr. 
Hamilton,  who  had  crossed  from  Brassay  to  meet  us 
again.  As  Chateaubriand  desired  a  friend  to  inscribe 
his  name  on  the  pyramids  of  Egypt,  that  posterity 
might  never  guess  he  had  actually  left  the  country 
without  inspecting  them,  we  must  get  our  signatures 
engraved  on  the  cliffs  at  Noss. 

It  has  been  long  remarked,  that  the  gentiy  in 
Shetland  use  their  long  winter  evenings  to  great 
advantage,  in  reading  most  extensively,  which  be- 
comes so  obviously  the  case  in  conversing  with  them, 
that  I  began  almost  to  regret  our  own  days  not  being 
equally  short.  Perhaps  also  the  cold  winds  here 
assist  in  sharpening  people's  intellects,  a  propos 
to  which  I  am  about  to  start  a  perfectly  new  philo- 
sophical theory  on  this  veiy  subject !  Warm  cli- 
mates certainly  do  enervate  the  mind,  as  we  see  that 
the  lowest  scale  of  intellect  prevails  in  Africa,  China, 
and  the  West  Indies.     Italy  and  France  are  greatly 


118  LERWICK. 

inferior  to  England  ; — Scotland  excels  them  all,  and 
even  our  great  magician,  Sir  Walter  Scott,  before 
writing  his  Pirate,  or  his  jom^nal,  took  a  sharpening 
in  Shetland.  Now,  this  all  combines  to  prove,  on 
undoubted  premises,  like  Phrenology  or  Animal 
Magnetism,  that  peculiar  acuteness  should  be  ex- 
pected in  minds  nearest  the  pole,  and  if  you  think  a 
course  of  popular  lectures  on  the  subject  would 
"  take,"  perhaps  I  could  sketch  out  the  prospectus. 
Common  phraseology  favours  my  discovery,  as  every 
man  who  makes  too  clever  a  bargain  with  his  neigh- 
bour, is  said  to  be  "  too  far  north  for  him !"  and, 
besides,  the  most  brilliant  magazine  in  Scotland  is 
edited  by  Christopher  North  !     Need  I  say  more  ? 

Instead  of  travelling  over  Shetland  with  us,  Mr. 
Charles  Hay  very  obligingly  showed  me  a  chart  of 
it,  on  so  large  a  scale,  that  three  inches  are  given  to 
each  mile,  and  not  a  single  peat-stack  seemed  want- 
ing, therefore  we  made  a  leisurely  tour  over  the 
wide  expanse,  pausing  occasionally  to  hear  elabo- 
rate descriptions  of  the  curiosities  we  ought  to  have 
seen,  and  of  the  accidents  we  might  probably  have 
met  with  3  all  very  interesting,  but  also  rather  tan^ 
talizing. 

During  a  short  promenade,  we  inspected  one  of 
the  primitive  mills  frequently  used  here  to  grind 
corn,  exactly  similar  to  those  of  Norway,  and  I  wish 
the  whole  board  of  agriculture  had  accompanied  us 


LERWICK.  119 

to  be  diverted  at  the  sight  of  this  antediluvian  ma- 
chinery. It  consisted  of  four  very  low  dykes,  with 
a  turf  roof,  beneath  which,  a  small  stream  running 
in  a  trough  not  four  inches  deep,  tm^ned  a  wheel 
placed  horizontally  instead  of  perpendicularly,  so 
that  half  the  force  was  neutralized,  and  there  you 
have  the  whole  concern ! 

Near  the  Cleik'em-in-Mill,  w^e  w^ere  shown  a 
most  amusing  little  miniature  cottage,  containing 
one  window  behind,  one  before,  one  in  the  roof,  and 
a  door,  but  there  are  five  apartments  inside.  Burn 
or  Gillespie  might  have  been  proud  of  laying  out 
the  accommodation  to  so  much  advantage,  but  it 
was  all  planned  and  executed  by  the  proprietor,  a 
custom-house  officer,  on  hospitable  thoughts  intent, 
who  washed  to  have  spare  beds  for  his  friends.  The 
dining-room  is  so  very  small  that  any  one  sitting  at 
table,  must  rise  and  stand  quite  upright  against  the 
wall,  if  the  door  be  opened ;  but  this  superb  resi- 
dence rejoices  in  a  name  larger  than  itself,  being 
called  "  Glenspleuchen,"  and  the  owner  may  always 
keep  up  his  dignity  like  the  gentleman  described  in 
an  old  ballad, — 

"  Stately  slept  he  east  the  wa', 
And  stately  slept  he  west." 

The  finest  remnant  of  a  Teutonic  Castle  which 
ever  enchanted  the  society  of  antiquaries  may  be 
seen  on  the  island  of  Mousa,  twelve  miles  distant 


120  LERWICK. 

from  Lerwick.  It  stands  about  forty  feet  high,  look- 
ing externally  like  a  small  pyramid  of  Egypt, — or 
some  pre-Adamite  conformation, — or  an  old  glass 
house — -take  any  comparison  you  like  best.  It  is 
composed  of  two  circular  w^alls,  one  within  the 
other,  like  the  ivory  balls  from  China,  leaving  a 
passage  about  five  feet  wide  between.  This  inter- 
val is  said  to  have  been  used  for  a  place  of  safety 
during  war,  and  as  these  retreats,  from  their  wind- 
ing about,  w^ere  called  dragons  or  serpents,  it  has 
been  conjectured  that  an  allusion  to  such  ancient 
sanctuaries  may  have  originated  the  allegorical  ro- 
mances, afterwards  so  popular,  relating  to  beautiful 
Princesses  who  w^ere  guarded  by  monsters,  and  res- 
cued by  dragons. 

There  is,  in  most  well-constituted  minds,  an  in- 
stinctive respect  for  rank,  which  certainly  ought  to 
exist  in  a  high  degree,  if,  as  in  many  cases,  it  only 
adorns  w'hat  is  in  other  respects  pre-eminent,  and 
acts  as  "  the  guinea  stamp"  on  that  which  is  already 
gold.  In  a  country  like  Shetland,  without  any  resi- 
dent nobility,  I  scarcely  think,  that  if  all  the  pleas- 
ing, w^ ell-bred  people  we  conversed  with  had  been 
insensibly  transformed  into  dukes  and  duchesses,  it 
could  have  made  our  evening  circle  more  agreeable 
or  entertaining ;  but  at  present,  the  great  theme  of 
conversation  in  every  house,  and  the  most  deserv- 
edly popular  person  in  the  far  north,  seems  to  be  a 


LERWICK.  121 

young  nobleman,  the  first  English  peer  who  ever 
penetrated  into  Shetland.  It  certainly  is  most  grati- 
fying to  a  part  of  the  world,  usually  forsaken  and 
neglected,  even  by  those  who  are  its  natural  resi- 
dents, that  the  inhabitants  have  been  repeatedly 
visited,  on  terms  of  cordial  kindness  and  intimacy, 
by  one  who  might  choose  his  own  society  in  any 
part  of  Great  Britain,  and  whose  estates  are  almost 
equal  in  value  to  any  one  of  the  three  northern 
counties  in  which,  for  the  last  two  years,  he  has 
resided.  The  young  men  in  Shetland  expected 
nothing  but  luxurious  indolence  from  an  "  English 
Lord"  possessing  unbounded  wealth,  whose  guar- 
dians had  recently  purchased  an  addition  to  his  vast 
estates  to  the  value  of  j£900,000,  but  they  were  as- 
tonished at  his  arriving  across  these  dangerous  seas, 
having  performed  a  voyage  of  one  hundred  miles  in 
an  open  fishing-boat,  and  still  more,  that  being  an 
accomplished  scholar,  and  accompanied  by  one  of 
the  most  pious  and  learned  tutors  at  Oxford,  he 
nevertheless  excelled  in  all  the  field-sports  and 
athletic  exercises  to  which  they  were  accustomed. 

The  three  predecessors  of  Lord  Ward  were  each, 
in  their  day,  pre-eminent  for  something.  The  first 
was  so  distinguished  for  his  personal  appearance, 
that  in  the  well-know^n  print  you  have  seen,  repre- 
senting Lord  Chatham's  death,  his  figure  was  made 
the  most  prominent  of  all.  My  grand  uncle,  Lord 
11 


122  LERWICK. 

Dudley  and  Ward,  who  succeeded  him,  expended 
so  many  thousands  every  year  in  building  churches, 
and  in  the  most  lavish  charitable  benefactions,  that 
he  w^as  justly  called  "  the  rich  man's  model,  and  the 
poor  man's  friend  ;"  and  his  son,  the  late  Earl  Dud- 
ley, Secretary  of  State  to  George  the  Fourth, 
though  his  great  abilities  v/ere  tarnished  by  an  ex- 
traordinary degree  of  eccentricity,  was,  nevertheless, 
one  of  the  most  brilliant  wits  and  accomplished 
scholars  of  his  time.  Though  an  only  son,  yet  from 
infancy  he  never  knew  the  happiness  of  domestic 
life,  having  been,  at  the  early  age  of  six  months, 
placed  by  his  rather  whimsical  parents  in  a  separate 
house  and  establishment,  where  they  occasionally 
visited  him,  but  his  education  w^as  entirely  superin- 
tended by  a  succession  of  nursery  governesses  and 
tutors,  and  he  always  declared  that  his  only  experi- 
ence of  a  happy  home  was  when  placed  at  last 
under  the  roof  of  Professor  Dugald  Stewart,  at 
Edinburgh.  His  life  of  early  solitude  engendered 
those  peculiar  habits  which  occasionally  clouded  the 
lustre  of  his  shining  abilities,  and  among  other 
strange  customs,  he  acquired  so  unconquerable  a 
habit  of  thinking  aloud,  that  his  intimate  friends 
used  to  say,  in  allusion  to  his  tw^o  titles,  that  "  Dud- 
ley was  speaking  to  Ward."  The  ludicrous  effect 
produced  by  these  public  meditations  during  his 
Majesty's  cabinet  councils,  became  a  principal  cause 


LERWICK.  123 

of  his  retirement  from  office.  On  one  occasion, 
when  a  gentleman  obUgingly  took  him  home  in  his 
carriage,  to  avoid  a  shower  of  rain,  he  conversed 
diUgently  with  himself  during  their  progress,  saying, 
"  I  suppose  he  will  expect  me  to  ask  him  to  dinner ! 
I'm  afraid  it  must  be  done."  His  companion  being 
fond  of  a  jest,  instantly  commenced  an  accompani- 
ment, muttering  to  himself  quite  audibly,  "  If  he 
asks  me  to  dinner,  I  shall  certainly  not  go  !"  Upon 
hearing  this.  Lord  Dudley  laughed  heartily,  made  an 
apology,  and  insisted  on  the  invitation  being  both 
given  and  accepted,  w^hich  accordingly  it  was.  A 
fall  from  his  horse,  on  the  continent,  seems  to  have 
occasioned  some  disease  of  the  brain,  which  brought 
a  melancholy  cloud  over  his  latter  years,  and  at  his 
own  express  desire,  all  his  papers  were  destroyed, 
leaving  no  record  behind  worthy  of  his  great  intel- 
lect, before  it  darkened  into  the  gloom  of  night. 

The  steam-boat  being  about  to  sail  from  Shet- 
land, we  were  now  called  on  to  decide  either  on 
leaving  the  island  immediately,  or  staying  an  entire 
week.  If  we  could  have  lingered  on  from  day  to 
day,  I  might  probably  have  enjoyed  myself  there 
for  a  month,  but  it  is  a  serious  thing  to  accept  an 
invitation  from  strangers  for  seven  long  days ;  and 
though  the  hospitable  inhabitants  appeared  to  think 
that  those  w^ho  once  came  there  should  never  go 
away,  while  we  were  surrounded  by  more  agreeable 


124  LERWICK. 

friends  than  I  ever  made  in  so  short  a  time  before, 
each  of  whom  we  were  sorry  to  leave,  yet  we  ad- 
hered firmly  to  our  original  plan  of  departing,  "  much 
and  justly  regretted."  Meantime  the  weather  had 
become  stormy,  the  wind  cutting  like  a  scythe,  and 
the  atmosphere  moreover  so  hazy,  that  I  felt  almost 
tempted  to  settle  for  life  in  Shetland,  rather  than 
encounter  the  very  formidable  voyage  before  us. 
We  wished  it  had  been  possible  now  to  summon 
the  obliging  genii  who  carried  Prince  Camaralza- 
man  a  thousand  leagues  without  disturbing  his  slum- 
bers !  I  envied  every  bird  that  flew  past,  and 
scarcely  dared  even  to  look  at  the  sea,  thinking 
how  much  too  intimately  acquainted  we  should 
soon  become ;  but  after  a  P  P  C  dinner  with  Mr. 
Hay,  we  embarked,  escorted  by  all  the  kind  friends 
we  had  acquired  at  Lerwick,  on  board  the  steam- 
boat, or  Damp-skiff,  as  it  is  appropriately  named  in 
our  friend  the  Danish  governor's  language. 

Having  been  always  hitherto  accustomed  to 
consider  Thurso  Castle  as  the  ultima  thule,  I  could 
not  get  over  the  oddity  of  receiving  the  good  wishes 
of  om*  companions  for  a  pleasant  voyage  south  to 
Caithness,  and  certainly  the  prospect  of  its  being 
safe  or  agreeable  seemed  momentarily  diminishing. 
The  captain  expressed  great  surprise  at  my  em- 
barking on  such  a  night  of  fog  and  wind,  while  a 
poor  woman,  who  had  brought  three  ponies  to  be 


LERWICK.  125 

transported,  said  the  evening  was  too  rough  for 
them,  and  led  her  Httle  flock  ashore.  I  very  nearly 
determined  to  accompany  them  back,  and  had  not 
quite  made  up  my  mind  on  the  subject,  when  sud- 
denly the  vessel  started  off  in  full  career,  the  skiff 
containing  our  convoy  of  friends  gradually  vanished 
in  the  fog,  the  waving  of  handkerchiefs  ceased,  and 
Shetland  was  no  more. 

I  felt  much  amused  at  a  sailor,  when  we  came 

on   board,   observing  to  A ,  "  I   thought   you 

would  not  stay  long.  Sir !  the  climate  is  too  cold  for 
any  gentleman !" 

What  a  night  this  was !  I  dared  not  go  below 
at  all,  but  turned  two  days  into  one,  by  remaining 
on  deck,  watching  the  endless  twilight,  while  our 
tottering  boat  wrestled  through  the  long  sweeping 
waves,  which  tilted  us  up  as  if  we  had  been  placed 
on  an  enormous  swing,  and  then  away  we  dashed 
into  the  very  bosom  of  the  ocean,  casting  up  a  sheet 
of  spray  which  drenched  all  the  deck.  Never  were 
mountains  so  easily  ascended  !  we  sprimg  up  the 
side  of  Ben  Nevis  or  Snowdon  at  a  single  bound, 
and  then  rushed  down  a  Montague  Russe  to  the 
bottom, — 

While  evVy  mad  wave  drown'd  tlie  moon, 
Or  whistled  aloft  its  tempest  tune. 

The  sun  set,  looking  dimly  and  coldly  through  dark 

stripes  of  grey  cloud,  as  if  enclosed  within  a  large 

11* 


126  LERWICK. 

iron  grate,  and  burned  to  embers,  but  at  last  it  went 
entirely  out,  so  the  world  remained,  with  nothing 
visible  by  the  cold  wan  twilight,  but  the  moon,  the 
stars,  and  myself.  The  whole  creation  seemed  like 
a  dream,  so  solemn  and  indistinct,  as  if  the  world 
were  in  a  trance,  but  for  the  stormy  wind  which 
blew  with  unabated  vehemence.  Nothing  brings 
to  my  mind  so  awful  an  idea  of  the  wrath  of  God, 
as  that  sustained  exhibition  of  His  mighty  power,  to 
be  traced  in  a  hurricane.  Even  a  thunder-storm  is 
scarcely  so  impressive  ! 

Morning  was  at  last  ushered  in  by  the  crowing 
of  a  cock  most  vociferously,  and  the  sun  himself 
emerged  from  the  ocean  like  a  globe  of  liquid  fire, 
blazing  over  sea  and  sky,  till  both  were  illuminated 
with  a  flood  of  splendour.  I  should  have  liked,  for 
the  moment,  to  be  an  Italian  improvisatrice,  and 
apostrophized  the  sun,  moon,  stars,  ocean,  and  all 
the  grand  objects  which  had  so  recently  delighted 
me  ;  but  the  true  sublime  of  their  existence  is  only 
to  be  fully  appreciated  in  connection  with  their 
great  originator.  I  could  not  but  think,  if  the  sun 
were  an  eye  visibly  watching  all  we  do  or  think,  it 
would  cause  a  most  solemnizing  restraint  over  all 
our  actions.  "  What  scenes  that  orb  has  look'd 
upon,  since  first  its  race  began !"  Yet  this  bright 
luminary  is  but  one  manifestation  among  thousands 
gloriously  testifying  the  perpetual  presence  and  un- 


LERWICK.  127 

ceasing  watchfulness  of  that  omnipotent  Being  who 
created  us  and  it, — whose  eye  is  in  every  place, 
"  beholding  the  evil  and  the  good."  Why  do  we 
not  more  constantly  remember  that  great  and  holy 
Being,  who  "  compasseth  our  path  and  our  lying 
down,  and  is  acquainted  with  all  our  ways  ?" 

I  contrived  to  stand  on  deck,  grasping  hold  of 
a  rope,  and  clinging  to  the  gangway,  while  Captain 
Philips  traced  the  whole  scene  of  Sir  Walter  Scott's 
Pirate,  and  treated  me  to  a  running  criticism  on  its 
merits,  which  might  have  made  a  valuable  article 
for  the  Quarterly  Review.  He  had  lately  comph- 
mented  the  novel  by  a  second  perusal,  and  pointed 
to  where  once  stood  the  ruins  of  Jarlshof  Castle,  and 
where  the  towering  precipice  of  Fitful  Head  still 
keeps  its  station,  looking  almost  supernatural.  It 
rises  four  hundred  feet  perpendicularly  out  of  the 
ocean ;  and,  at  the  moment  w^e  passed  it,  was 
crowned  by  fantastic  wreaths  of  mist,  blown  into 
strange  unearthly  peaks,  the  w^hole  of  w^hich  looked 
so  perfectly  solid,  that  you  might  have  fancied  they 
were  all  actual  rocks. 

Captain  Philips  is  a  most  fearless  navigator, 
having  once  attempted  the  nearly  impossible  exploit 
of  sailing  through  "  the  Roost  of  Sumburgh,"  a  boil- 
ing sea,  w^hich  dashes  tumultuously  up  to  the  base 
of  a  headland,  towering  bold  and  erect  nearly  one 
thousand  feet  high,  thus  raising  its  head  to  heaven, 


128  LERWICK. 

while  storms  and  tempests  rage  unheeded  at  its  foot. 
There  the  Atlantic  and  German  oceans  meet,  on  not 
very  peaceful  terms,  and  the  waves  break  up  with 
such  gigantic  strength,  that  the  spray  is  sometimes 
thrown  several  hundred  feet  over  the  rocks,  falling 
back  in  a  perfect  Niagara  of  foam;  and  a  long 
stream  of  turbulent  billows  may  be  traced  three 
miles  into  the  ocean,  caused  by  this  concussion  of 
tides.  Vessels  inadvertently  entering  its  vortex 
during  a  comparative  calm,  have  been  tossed,  with- 
out hope  of  escape,  for  three  or  four  days,  w^ith  the 
waves  washing  almost  in  a  stream  over  the  deck. 
This  description  reminded  me  of  the  young  lady 
who  suddenly  changed  her  mind  about  going  to 
India,  and  gave,  as  her  reason,  that  she  was  told, 
"  every  vessel,  in  crossing  the  line,  remaiuf  d  three 
days  imder  water !" 

On  the  occasion  of  trying  his  powers  in  the 
Roost,  Captain  Philips  penetrated  forwards,  till  the 
Sovereign  was  literally  boring  through  the  weaves, 
and  being  at  length  wdthin  a  few  buckets  of  be- 
coming quite  ingulfed,  she  w^ith  some  difficulty 
wheeled  about,  not  quite  drowned,  and  all  but 
swamped.  Since  then,  no  audacious  paddles  have 
intruded  within  that  very  respectful  distance  at 
which  we  kept  from  Sumburgh-head,  which  has 
presided  over  some  fearful  shipwrecks.  Many  a 
noble  vessel  has  there  sunk  to  rise  no  more,  and 


WICK.  129 

many  a  despairing  eye  has  fixed  its  last  glance  on 
those  mighty  cliffs !  In  1595,  the  Earl  of  Orkney 
made  a  law,  that  if  any  man  attempted  to  relieve 
vessels  in  distress,  he  should  be  punished  in  his  per- 
son, and  forthwith  severely  fined,  at  his  Lordship's 
own  pleasure,  a  discretionary  power,  exercised  on 
so  very  extensive  a  scale,  that  he  was  finally  exe- 
cuted at  Edinburgh  for  his  tyrannical  and  rapacious 
conduct.  It  was  rather  an  awkward  superstition 
among  the  lower  orders  long  ago,  that  whoever 
rescued  a  drowning  man,  might  depend  upon  re- 
ceiving some  mortal  injury  from  his  hand ;  but  I 
hope  the  Humane  Society  can  give  a  diflferent  report 
in  modern  times,  and  return  a  favourable  verdict  of 
"  not  proven." 

The  harbour  at  Wick  is  considered,  during  an 
east  wind,  the  most  dangerous  part  of  a  voyage 
from  Shetland  !  therefore,  seeing  the  wind  riotous, 
and  the  waves  tossing  up  their  white  curly  heads 
in  the  bay.  Captain  Philips  recommended  that  we 
should  trust  ourselves  in  preference  to  a  small  boat 
in  Sinclair  bay,  w^hich  accordingly  we  did,  landing 
near  the  ancient  walls  of  Ackergill  tower,  after  a 
nineteen  hours  passage  from  Shetland ;  and  really, 
considering  all  we  had  come  through,  I  felt  rather 
astonished  to  see  myself  alive  and  w^ell.  When  did 
you  ever  hear  of  a  voyage  in  w^hich  people  were 
not  within  an  inch  of  their  lives  1     The  innkeeper 


130  WICK. 

at  Wick  proved  himself  quite  a  genius  in  his  Une, 
having  actually  shown  so  much  forethought,  as  to 
place  a  gig  in  waiting  for  us  close  to  the  surf,  in 
which  we  deposited  our  heavy  baggage,  and 
walked  to  the  town,  two  miles  off,  where,  even  on 
these  desolate  heaths,  I  could  have  exclaimed,  like 
Gonzalo,  "  Now  would  I  give  a  thousand  furlongs 
of  sea  for  an  acre  of  barren  ground."  I  would  say 
of  such  a  voyage,  as  Lord  Chesterfield  did  of  hunt- 
ing, "  Do  people  ever  go  a  second  time  !"  It  cer- 
tainly is  a  wonderful  infatuation,  and  every  excur- 
sion I  make  is  always  "  positively  for  the  last  time, 
and  by  particular  desire ;"  but  again  and  again 
some  dire  necessity  occurs,  and  I  become  "  an  invol- 
untary voluntary"  once  more  on  the  sea. 

If  you  are  desirous  to  have  a  letter  answered 
immediately,  write  always  to  the  busiest  persons 
you  know,  for  they  are  always  the  most  punctual, 
of  w^hich  my  epistle  to-day  is  an  undeniable  instance. 
In  considerable  haste,  and  with  a  one-»legged  pen, 
yours,  &c,  &c, 


FERRYTOWN. 


Though  to  the  west  retreating, 
Daylight  may  soon  be  fleeting; 
Welcome  ye  darker  hours, 
Our  sunshine  is  within. 

My  dear  Cousin, — K  our  correspondence  con- 
tinues to  be  kept  up  so  diligently,  we  shall  both  soon 
resemble  the  Spanish  author,  who  w^rote  three  times 
as  many  pages  as  he  lived  days  in  the  world  ;  and 
though  he  was  considered  a  wonderful  man  in  those 
primitive  times,  it  is  quite  an  everyday  case  now, 
for  there  are  many  hving  authors  who  can  make  a 
ream  of  paper  "  look  foolish"  in  a  month.  Easy 
writing  is  said  to  be  very  hard  reading,  but  we  have 
weekly  and  monthly  opportunities  of  trying  the  ex- 
periment now,  as  many  w^ho  might  become  stand- 
ard authors,  if  they  did  themselves  any  justice,  pre- 
fer writing  against  time.  Such  works  come  out  in 
a  galloping  consumption  from  the  first,  published, 
bought,  read,  buried  in  oblivion,  and  succeeded  by 
a  fresh  progeny  from  the  same  pen,  all  within  the 
period  of  a  Quarterly  Review,  and  we  are  scarcely 
allowed  time  to  form  a  more  accurate  estimate  of 
their  value  than  the  student  who  hurried  through 


132  FERRYTOWN. 

Euclid  in  a  week,  and  said  it  was  very  amusing,  but 
he  could  make  nothing  of  the  pictures.  Formerly 
the  world  was  said  to  be  divided  into  three  classes. 
Those  who  Hve  to  read, — those  who  live  to  act, — 
and  those  who  live  to  talk, — but  you  will  allow  we 
have  a  fourth  class  now,  more  numerous  than  all 
the  others  united, — those  who  live  to  write.  I  re- 
member hearing  of  a  whimsical  pubhsherjwho  used 
at  his  dinner-parties  to  make  authors  take  precedence 
according  to  the  bulk  of  their  works.  The  folios 
walked  first,  the  quartos  followed,  the  octavos  came 
last,  and,  I  suppose,  the  duodecimos  dropped  in  to 
tea,  but  if  your  correspondents  have  rank  on  the 
same  scale  of  measurement,  this  letter  will  promote 
me  to  a  place  of  great  distinction,  as  I  mean  it  to  be 
perfectly  endless. 

An  Italian  proverb  says,  "  Every  road  leads  to 
Rome,"  but  here  the  most  northern  highways  in 
Scotland  are  like  the  spokes  of  a  wheel,  all  center- 
ing at  Inverness.  Though  I  would  gladly  sweep 
round  a  hundred  miles,  to  avoid  revisiting  the  same 
place,  no  other  outlet  presents  itself  towards  the 
south,  and  therefore  we  resigned  ourselves  to  a 
tiresome  da  capo.  An  Irishman  got  himself  once 
into  the  greatest  perplexity  while  counting  on  his 
fingers  a  party  of  three  with  whom  he  had  dined  the 
previous  day  :  "  There  were  the  two  O'Flanagans 
one,  myself  tw^o ;  but  who  was  the  third  ?     The 


FERRYTO^^^.  133 

two  O'Flanagans  one,  myself  two ! !" — now  in  the 
same  way,  to  save  repetition,  my  two  visits  to  Inver- 
ness shall  be  reckoned  for  one,  though,  pre^vious  to 
our  arrival,  the  journey  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
miles  is  w^orth  describing,  as  we  were  pursued  the 
whole  way  by  the  same  hurricane  which  escorted 
us  from  Shetland.  I  enjoyed  it  now  most  comfort- 
ably, however,  on  shore,  admiring  the  picturesque 
effect  of  ships  in  a  storm,  and  feeling  most  thank- 
ful not  to  be  on  board.  Some  travellers  are  in  such 
haste,  they  would  sacrifice  their  lives  to  save  half  an 
hour,  and  a  gentleman  who  wished  to  proceed  by 
the  mail  yesterday  from  Golspie  to  Inverness,  find- 
ing it  full,  embarked  in  an  open  boat,  which  was 
instantly  blown  out  to  sea,  carried  off  the  contrary 
way,  and  finally  dashed  to  pieces,  but  he  was  him- 
self picked  up  almost  alive,  as  far  north  as  Helms- 
dale, by  a  Frenchman  who  w^as  passing  by  chance, 
and  arrived  safe  this  morning  at  the  point  from 
which  he  set  out. 

When  we  reached  Ferrytown  the  sea  w^as  cov- 
ered w^th  a  drifting  foam,  so  that  even  the  mail 
could  not  think  of  crossing,  and  the  ferryman's  wife 
told  us  that,  though  he  usually  crosses  in  ten  min- 
utes, her  husband  had  been  at  sea  six  hours  during 
the  morning  vainly  trying  to  get  over.  She  was  in 
tears  most  of  the  time,  expecting  him  every  instant 
to  go  down,  but  there  he  stood  now  perfectly  safe ; 
12 


134  FERRYTOWN. 

and  it  would  have  made  you  smile  to  see  the  little 
ordinary  looking  old  man  who  had  been  the  object 
of  interest  and  affection  so  intense.  Her  feelings 
were  rather  more  pleasingly  testified  than  those  of 

Lady for  her  husband,  when  he  nearly  fell 

overboard  from  a  steam-boat,  and  she  called  out  to 
a  sailor,  "  Take  care  of  that  man,  for  he  belongs  to 
me !" 

The  ferryman  seemed  quite  ready  to  try  an  ex- 
perimental trip  across,  if  any  of  us  had  the  least 
curiosity  to  go.  He  wore  a  silver  snuff-box,  given 
him  for  saving  the  lives  of  fifteen  persons  on  a  for- 
mer occasion,  which  was  some  encouragement,  and 
he  seemed  quite  anxious  for  another  opportunity  of 
distinguishing  himself.  I  saw  the  spot  where  a  boat 
was  upset  thirty  years  since,  when  ninety-nine  per- 
sons were  lost,  and  w^e  were  shown  the  very  wave 
in  which  an  English  gentleman,  an  admirable  swim- 
mer, was  drowned  some  years  ago,  so  that  seemed 
quite  warning  enough  !  I  prefer,  at  any  time,  avoid- 
ing a  danger  to  escaping  out  of  it,  and,  therefore, 
when  we  heard  some  time  afterwards  that  a  boat 
was  actually  in  preparation  to  carry  the  mail  across, 
I  proposed  a  resolution  and  seconded  it  myself,  that 
A and  I  should  remain  a  day  at  the  Ferry- 
house,  which  question  was  triumphantly  carried  by 
a  Whig  majority  of  one. 

It  was  an  interesting  moment  when  we  stood 


FERRYTOWN.  135 

on  the  shore,  accompanied  by  several  other  travel- 
lers as  prudent  as  ourselves,  watching  with  strained 
eyes  the  little  enterprising  vessel  tossing  and  tumb- 
ling on  the  angry  billows  as  if  it  had  been  mad,  but 
the  letter-bags  landed  in  triumph  at  last,  having 
been  blown  over  in  nine  minutes  !  Those  who  re- 
ceived their  correspondence  that  day,  httle  knew  at 
what  hazard  these  epistles  were  punctually  for- 
warded. 

.  A  boatman  who  conducted  us  to  the  little  cot- 
tage-inn at  Ferrytown,  informed  me  that  the  land- 
lady only  admitted  "very  particular  people,"  but 
our  reception  was  favourable,  and  she  even  conde- 
scended to  cook  some  excellent  hot  cakes,  as  we 
were  quite  in  the  humour  of  taking  what  your  friend 
calls  "  a  big  tea."  This  was  the  smallest  inn  I 
ever  entered,  but  remarkably  tidy,  with  table-cloths, 
sheets,  and  damask  towels,  as  fine  as  in  any  gentle- 
man's house.  How  unfortunate  that  the  good  old 
spinning  days  of  Scotland  are  over :  aged  women 
no  longer  find  a  cheerful  companion  in  their  wheels, 
the  busy  hum  of  which  used  to  beguile  their  lonely 
hours.  Every  cottage  then  amassed  its  treasures  of 
home-made  linen,  so  that  while  the  younger  women, 
like  our  landlady,  added  to  the  comfort  of  their 
household  and  children  by  active  industry,  the  aged 
used  very  frequently  to  occupy  their  latter  days,  with 
a  melancholy  satisfaction,  in  preparing  their  own 


136  INVERNESS. 

-winding-sheet,  and  the  perfect  pride  and  pleasure 
with  which  the  dying  now  talk  of  having  their 
"  dead  clothes"  ready,  would  sometimes  almost 
startle  you. 

As  one  of  the  greatest  agricultural  meetings  in 
the  north  was  taking  place  at  Inverness,  and  two 
hundred  gentlemen  had  assembled  to  dine  here, 
from  all  parts  of  the  coimtry,  we  were  quite  aston- 
ished at  our  own  good  fortune  in  obtaining  comfort- 
able apartments  at  the  Caledonian  Hotel,  where  I 
scarcely  expected  to  find  standing  room.  Many 
years  ago,  my  father  succeeded  in  establishing  a 
yearly  wool-market  at  Inverness,  w^here  no  one  can 
say  there  is  "  much  cry  and  little  wool."  The  sales 
are  so  extensive,  that  more  than  100,000  sheep 
generally  change  owners  here  annually,  besides  an 
incredible  quantity  of  wool.  From  the  window  of 
our  sitting-room,  I  can  see  at  this  moment  a  solid 
mass  of  several  hundred  people  belonging  to  every 
rank  and  degree,  who  have  stood  immovable  there 
during  two  successive  days!  English  cloth  mer- 
chants, Scotch  proprietors,  farmers,.,  factors,  and 
shepherds,  all  evidently  with  their  brains  wool- 
gathering, are  so  busy  making  bargains,  that  they 
mind  a  shower  of  rain  no  more  than  the  sheep  do 
they  are  selling,  while  the  weather  is  hopelessly 
dismal,  and  the  sky  of  one  universal  leaden  hue,  as 
if  our  whole  world  were  under  the  canopy  of  a  tin 
dish-cover. 


INVERNESS.  137 

We  are  amused  with  observing  how  much  char- 
acter may  be  traced  in  the  different  ways  those  in- 
numerable people  set  about  transacting  their  busi- 
ness. Some  are  swaggering  along,  taking  every 
man  by  the  button,  and  looking  as  patronizing  and 
consequential  as  possible, — others  are  sneaking  about 
as  if  they  had  picked  a  pocket,  or  intended  doing 
so, — some  look  so  sharp  and  acute,  that  I  would 
feel  sure  of  being  overreached  by  them,  if  they  so 
much  as  exchanged  civilities  with  me, — one  or  two 
look  as  if  they  could  cheat  another,  if  he  only  tossed 
up  with  him  for  sixpence,  and  others  seem  perfect 
images  of  dulness  and  stupidity,  remaining  as  still 
as  if  they  had  been  turned  into  lamp  posts. 

I  expected  to  have  passed  through  miles  of 
sheep  on  the  road  to  Inverness,  and  to  have  encoun- 
tered myriads  in  the  town ;  but  not  at  all !  every 
free  and  independent  flock  sends  a  representative  in 
the  shape  of  a  drover,  who  attends  to  the  interests 
of  his  constituents,  and  sells  them  for  what  he  can 
get.  Several  of  these  Highland  shepherds  are  very 
'*  primitive  formations,"  and  one  I  observed,  from 
our  own  country,  so  large  and  athletic,  he  might 
have  brought,  without  much  difficulty,  a  sheep  in 
each  pocket.  This  very  respectable  man,  John 
Paterson,  who  is  a  well  known  character  in  the 
north,  began  the  world  as  a  herd-boy  on  my  father's 
property,  and  when  he  drove  our  flocks  from  the 
12* 


138  INVERNESS. 

Highlands  formerly  to  market,  always  managed  to 
billet  them  every  night  on  the  fields  of  our  friends 
or  relatives.  Proprietors  were  occasionally  thunder- 
sti'uck  in  a  morning  to  behold  a  shower  of  sheep 
scattered  over  their  meadows,  apparently  quite  at 
home,  while  worthy  John  Paterson  thought  it  a 
perfectly  sufficient  apology  to  say  they  were  "  Sir 
John's !"  He  has  repeatedly  been  heard  to  mention, 
that  his  own  fortune  originally  amounted  only  to 
3s.  6d.,  but  now,  by  honest  industry  and  skilful 
management,  it  has  multiplied  into  ^£25,000 ! 

Several  other  instances  were  pointed  out  to  me, 
in  which  the  rearing  of  sheep  had  become  an  equally 
eucessful  speculation,  and  formerly,  my  father  used 
to  tell  me,  that  about  the  year  1790,  he  had  de- 
clined an  offer  from  Mrs.  Mackay,  the  proprietor  of 
Bighouse,  who  wished  him  to  give  her  an  annuity 
for  life  of  j6300  a  year,  and  to  take  her  estate  in 
exchange,  which  was  sold  not  many  years  after- 
wards for  j£50,000,  owing  to  the  success  of  the 
British  Wool  Society,  which  he  originated  and  es- 
tablished. The  value  of  Highland  property  was 
thus  so  greatly  enhanced,  that  the  estate  of  Reay, 
which  previously  produced  only  ^£1500  a-year,  was 
purchased  by  the  late  Duke  of  Sutherland  for 
^450,000 ! 

Sheep  have  their  merits,  and  they  now  certainly 
fulfil  the  prophecy  of  old  Thomas  the  Rhymer  six 


INVERNESS.  139 

hundred  years  ago,  that  "  the  teeth  of  the  sheep 
shall  lay  the  plough  on  the  shelf."  A  whole  flock 
must  have  changed  their  names  to  mutton  for  the 
dinner  to-day,  as  two  hundred  hungry  gentlemen 
drew  in  their  chairs  at  six,  with  Mr.  Donald  Home 
to  preside,  one  of  the  most  popular  and  convivial 
presidents  for  such  occasions  in  the  north,  and  he 
filled  the  chair,  or  perhaps  I  should  rather  say,  the 
woolsack,  with  great  eclat,  till  a  late  hour. 

It  often  amuses  me  to  calculate  the  many  years 
of  preparation  w^hich  all  necessarily  combine  to 
produce  the  grand  result  of  a  perfectly  well-ordered 
dinner  party.  In  the  first  place,  the  veiy  servants 
Avho  wait  at  table  require  a  long  apprenticeship  of 
drilling  and  practice,  before  they  acquire  the  sort 
of  legerdemain  and  discipline,  absolutely  essential 
on  their  part, — then  the  cook  must  have  been  initia- 
ted in  the  deepest  mysteries  of  his  art,  and  the  very 
guests  have  been  taught  from  infancy,  not  to  eat 
with  their  knives,  and  how  to  conduct  a  conversa- 
tion in  which  there  must  neither  be  ignorance,  pe- 
dantry, flippancy,  or  dulness.  The  four  quarters  of 
the  globe  also  send  contributions  to  the  entertain- 
ment, and  the  wines  perform  at  least  one  voyage  to 
India  before  Messrs.  Cathcart  and  Ferguson  think 
them  fit  to  be  issued  from  their  cellars  at  Leith. 

We  hear  much  discussion  now,  respecting  a 
railway  through  the  vale  of  Strathmore  to  Aber- 


140  INVERNESS. 

deen,  so  the  forests  may  be  trembling  on  their 
native  hills,  as  a  few  strokes  of  the  axe  will  soon 
degrade  them  into  sleepers  for  the  railroads.  The 
Duke  of  Sutherland  is  said  to  have  gained  more 
than  .£100,000  by  taking  a  tenth  share  in  the  rail- 
way between  Birmingham  and  Liverpool,  which 
cost  five  millions ;  but  where  will  money  be  found 
sufficient  to  bore  tunnels  through  the  great  mountains 
of  Aberdeenshire,  or  to  raise  viaducts  between  them  ? 
We  now  proceeded  on  our  journey  eastward, 
passing  Castle  Stewart,  a  tall,  narrow,  square  house, 
built  by  the  Regent  Moray,  and  still  most  comforta- 
bly habitable,  having  descended  by  inheritance  to 
the  Earl  of  Moray,  who  is  proprietor  of  so  many 
fine  places,  he  must  be  at  a  loss  sometimes  to  re- 
member all  their  names.  A  group  of  thriving  old 
cherry-trees  flourishes  near  the  castle,  transplanted 
from  Kent  150  years  ago  by  Alexander  Earl  of 
Moray.  Buchanan  mentions,  in  writing  of  the 
"  Good  Regent,"  that  "  his  house  was  like  a  holy 
temple.  After  meals  he  caused  a  chapter  of  the 
Bible  to  be  read,  and  asked  the  opinions  of  such 
learned  men  as  were  present  upon  it,  not  out  of 
vain  curiosity,  but  from  a  desire  to  learn,  and  re- 
duce to  practice  what  it  contained."  The  fruits  of 
such  a  fife  were  exhibited  in  the  truly  Christian 
spirit  of  forgiveness  with  which  he  met  his  death, 
on  the  tragical  day  of  his  murder  at  Linlithgow. 


NAIRN.  141 

When  changing  horses  at  the  neat  httle  city  of 
Nairn,  I  saw,  near  the  inn,  that  singularly  unfortu- 
nate being,  James  Mitchell,  now  forty-five  years  old, 
the  son  of  a  clergyman,  respecting  whom  Professor 
Dugald  Stewart  read  an  interesting  paper  once  be- 
fore the  Royal  Society.  He  is  quite  an  anomaly  in 
nature,  being  born  without  the  faculties  of  speech, 
sight,  or  hearing,  yet  displaying  some  glimmering 
intelligence  of  countenance  and  conduct.  His  ex- 
istence must  be  a  dreary  blank,  a  living  death, 
without  ever  having  enjoyed  any  of  the  sights  or 
sounds  of  life,  and  scarcely  having  known  any  of 
its  affections.  The  most  persevering  and  generous 
kindness  has  been  shown  him  by  an  amiable  sister, 
who  invented  several  ingenious  devices  for  communi- 
cating what  she  wishes,  by  the  touch  of  her  fingers, 
and  she  has  deservedly  obtained  considerable  influ- 
ence over  his  naturally  passionate  and  wilful  dispo- 
sition. To  her  he  is  docile  and  obedient,  but  all 
his  actions  being  regulated  by  mere  impulse,  no 
idea  of  duty  or  principle  can  be  conveyed  to  his 
mind,  his  intellect,  if  he  has  any,  being  buried  in 
impenetrable  darkness.  How  strange  it  would  be, 
to  know  what  are  the  thoughts  and  feelings  of  such 
a  being  !  He  is  said  to  have  an  almost  preternatu- 
ral acuteness  of  touch  and  smell,  and  his  greatest 
delight  seems  to  be  derived  from  handling  carriages 
when  they  stop  near  the  inn,  trying  the  elasticity  of 


142  NAIRN. 

their  springs,  and  stroking  the  horses  mth  great 
caution.  He  touches  and  feels  whatever  is  near 
him,  and  seems  gifted  with  astonishing  curiosity,  as 
w^ell  as  some  invention,  one  instance  of  which  is, 
that  when  he  wishes  to  ride,  he  places  his  hand 
under  his  foot  Hke  a  stirrup.  He  kneels  during 
family  prayer,  and  when  his  father  died,  having 
been  led  forward  to  touch  the  corpse,  he  shrunk 
back  with  obvious  horror,  which  may  lead  us  to 
suppose  that  he  has  some  instinctive  apprehension 
of  death.  From  that  hour  he  never  would  sleep  in 
the  bed  where  his  father's  body  had  been  laid,  but 
some  time  afterwards,  he  took  a  stranger  into  that 
apartment,  and  laid  his  own  head  back  on  the  pillow 
for  a  moment,  having  done  which,  he  hurried  his 
companion  towards  the  churchyard,  and  patted  his 
father's  grave  with  his  hand.  How  gratefully  we 
should  enjoy,  and  carefully  improve  the  faculties 
given  to  ourselves,  when  we  contrast  the  blessings 
they  bring  us,  with  the  mournful  state  of  this  poor 
outcast,  consigned  to  perpetual  darkness,  solitude, 
and  silence.  We  are  often  apt  to  think  the  blind 
more  cheerful  than  the  deaf,  not  considering  that 
those  who  have  lost  their  sight  can  only  be  amused 
in  society,  and  are  then  seen  at  their  best,  while 
those  who  are  deprived  of  hearing,  may  forget  their 
affliction  over  a  book,  but  are  reminded  of  it  perpet- 
ually in  company.     Did  you  ever  hear  of  the  Irish 


NAIRN.  143 

clergyman  who  preached  for  the  Bhnd  Asylum  for- 
merly, and  began  by  gravely  remarking,  "  If  all 
the  world  were  blind,  what  a  melancholy  sight  it 
would  be !" 

After  passing  through  Nairn,  we  crossed  ''•  the 
witches'  moor  !"  where  Macbeth  had  his  interview 
with  the  withered  old  hags.  Their  dancing  days 
are  over  now,  and  besides,  we  were  rather  too  early 
for  their  cantrips,  or  for  being  favoured  with  any 
predications  of  coming  greatness  to  ourselves.  No 
grass  ever  grows  where  a  witch's  foot  has  trod,  and 
this  "  blasted  heath"  seems  bare  enough  to  prove  for 
certain,  that  on  the  very  identical  spot  we  saw  they 
appeared,  and  no  other.  We  carefully  kept  our 
gravity  here,  as  you  are  probably  aware,  that  if 
any  one  smiles  on  a  witch  in  the  Highlands,  his 
mouth  remains  awry  for  ever  afterwards. 

In  discussing,  for  the  hundred-thousandth  time, 
the  marvellous  genius  of  Shakspeare  and  other  ima- 
ginative waiters,  I  could  not  but  lament  that  many 
sensible  persons  consider  it  essential  now,  in  edu- 
cating children,  to  exclude  entirely  all  works  of 
fancy,  even  when  written  for  sacred  purposes,  ad- 
hering rigidly  to  matters  of  fact,  and  preserving  the 
body  without  the  spirit  of  thought.  All  depends, 
no  doubt,  on  the  use  made  of  that  powerful  faculty, 
which  may  be  degraded  to  vicious  purposes  or  ex- 
alted to  the  highest,  and  it  was  well  observed,  that  as 


144  NAIRN. 

the  swan  sings  before  it  dies,  it  would  have  been 
well  if  some  poets  had  died  before  they  sung,  but 
still,  the  abuse  of  a  gift  in  some  instances  or  in  many, 
does  not  warrant  its  utter  extinction,  and  there  are 
uses  for  the  imagination,  important,  not  only  to  our 
interests  in  time,  but  in  eternity.  The  muse  of 
poetry  has  been  degraded  often  to  the  \dlest  pur- 
poses, and  is  yet  so  consecrated  by  Milton,  Cowper, 
Montgomery,  and  others,  that  I  could  not  but  com- 
pare the  contrast  thus  afforded,  to  the  vulture's  wing 
soaring  as  high  as  that  of  the  eagle,  but  while  the 
one  shuns  the  brightness  of  meridian  day,  and 
keeps  his  grovelling  eye  on  earthly  objects,  the 
other  scans  the  very  heavens  and  fixes  his  unflinch- 
ing gaze  on  the  dazzling  orb  of  light.  Religion 
itself  is  directed  more  to  the  imagination  than  to  the 
senses,  and  I  have  often  thought,  in  attending  the 
last  sufferings  of  a  Christian's  death-bed,  how  glori- 
ous is  the  triumph  of  that  which  is  unseen,  over  that 
which  is  endured,  when  all  the  agonies  of  dissolution 
are  superseded  and  nearly  forgotten  amidst  the  faith 
and  hope  with  which  an  unseen  eternity  has  been 
joyfully  anticipated,  and  in  the  vivid  conception  of 
that  blessedness  which  "  eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear 
heard,  neither  hath  it  entered  into  the  heart  of  man 
to  conceive." 

We  admired  beyond  expression  the  pine-covered 
hills,  like  those  of  Norway,  and  the  five  miles  of 


BRODIE    CASTLE.  145 

forest  around  Darnaway  Castle,  where  the  richly 
wooded  grounds  exhibit  trees  enough  to  make  a 
railroad  round  the  world.  I  never  now  see  a  plan- 
tation without  thinking  of  the  saw-mill,  and  it  is  a 
melancholy  connection  of  ideas,  like  Xerxes  weeping 
over  his  followers,  because  in  fifty  years  they  could 
exist  no  longer. 

The  park  round  Brodie  Castle  is  charmingly 
wooded.  One  half  of  the  house  is  old,  like  the 
family  pedigree,  and  an  elegant  new  front-breadth 
has  been  added,  giving  all  the  light  and  comfort 
which  very  ancient  houses  so  seldom  afford.  I  re- 
cognised Burn's  touch  at  once,  for  architects,  like 
painters,  have  a  style  not  to  be  mistaken.  The  re- 
cent appendix  is  rapidly  assuming  an  appearance  of 
antiquity,  and  dressing  itself  up  in  festoons  of  ivy, 
which  will  cause  it  to  harmonize  admirably  with  the 
rest,  so  that,  before  many  years,  they  will  appear  a 
very  suitable  match. 

The  ceiling  of  one  beautiful  old  room  here  is 
adorned  by  the  richest  dark  oak  carving  in  Scotland. 
It  would  make  the  fortune  of  a  dozen  sideboards 
and  cabinets,  being  sculptured  with  the  minuteness 
of  seal-engraving,  and  there  are  eagles,  cupids, 
unicorns,  flowers,  and  fruit,  all  in  full  relief,  the 
whole  effect  being  so  handsome,  that  I  am  scarcely 
surprised  the  fashion  of  ornamented  roofs  has  been 
13 


146  BRODIE    CASTLE. 

restored,  and  that  people  expend  more  on  their  cor- 
nices than  on  their  carpets. 

The  family  portraits  here  possess  an  additional 
interest  to  us,  respecting  ancestors  from  whom  we 
ourselves  are  descended,  but  the  first  of  my  progen- 
itors to  whom  I  was  introduced,  Emilia  Brodie,  made 
so  extraordinary  a  grimace  at  me,  that  I  shall  never 
forget  it.  The  painter  had  evidently  intended  a 
bewitching  smile,  and  hazarded  a  distortion  of  fea- 
tures, such  as  might  probably  be  the  elFect  of  eating 
the  sourest  of  all  lemons.  In  another  apartment  ap- 
peared the  beautiful  portrait  of  a  young  girl  about 
sixteen,  with  whom  I  hastened  to  claim  kindred, 

when  A ,  in  a  most  provokingly  matter-of-fact 

manner,  investigated  the  case,  and  discovered  that  it 
was  a  plain  elder  sister  who  married  into  our  family. 

A  very  animated,  but  by  no  means  beautiful, 
Flora  Macdonald  was  there,  looking  like  a  clever 
schoolmistress,  but  not  by  any  means  realizing  my 
previous  conception  of  that  celebrated  heroine. 
Here  also  we  admired  the  twentieth  original  of 
Charles  the  First,  by  Vandyke,  which  I  have  seen, 
and  the  monarch  must  certainly  have  sat  vis  a  vis 
to  the  artist  all  his  life,  to  produce  so  interminable 
a  succession  of  portraits, — generally  representing 
Charles  the  First  with  his  head  on,  and  riding  a 
melancholy  gray  horse.     It  was  a  strange  circum- 


BRODIE    CASTLE.  147 

stance,  recorded  by  Lord  Southampton,  that  the 
night  after  his  Majesty's  execution,  having  been 
permitted  to  watch  beside  the  body,  he  heard  at 
midnight  the  heavy  tread  of  some  one  coming  up 
stairs,  the  door  then  slowly  opened,  and  a  man, 
muffled  in  his  cloak  and  concealing  his  face,  but 
strongly  resembling  Oliver  Cromwell  in  air  and 
voice,  approached  the  bier,  gazed  at  it  for  some  time, 
shook  his  head,  sighed,  and  withdrew,  saying,  in  a 
melancholy  tone,  "  cruel  necessity  !"  How  extraor- 
dinary was  the  combination  of  enthusiasm  and 
hypocrisy  in  the  Protector's  character,  "  Forced, 
though  it  grieved  his  soul,  to  reign  alone  !" 

Our  connoiseurships  thought  very  highly  of  one 
fine  picture  by  Murillo,  representing,  as  usual,  a  boy 
laughing,  so  extremely  natural  that  you  would  have 
listened  to  hear  the  burst  that  seems  coming.  Some 
children  were  frightened  one  day  while  looking  at 
it,  and  said,  "  that  man  is  always  laughing  at  us  !" 
How  very  early  in  life,  the  terror  of  being  laughed 
at  commences,  and,  like  most  other  instincts  of 
nature,  though  useful  in  moderation,  it  becomes  per- 
nicious in  excess. 

Rembrandt  was  the  greatest  admirer  of  wrinkled 
old  women  who  ever  held  a  brush,  but  in  one  of  his 
pictures  here,  he  condescended  to  paint  a  young 
man  not  yet  in  the  vale  of  years,  and  another  ex- 
ception to  general  rule  was  a  portrait  actually  un- 


148  BRODIE    CASTLE. 

faded,  by  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  of  a  beautiful  lady 
and  child. 

In  the  spacious  dining-room  at  Brodie  Castle, 
modern  portraits  and  landscapes  are  hung  promis- 
cuously, like  a  morsel  of  Somerset  House  arrived  in 
the  Highlands,  and  the  subject  of  one  picture  in  the 
entrance-hall,  was  what  no  other  artist  before  or 
since  appears  ever  to  have  thought  of  selecting. 
You  remember  the  story  of  King  John  ordering  a 
Jew's  teeth  to  be  all  successively  drawn,  till  he  con- 
fessed where  his  treasures  were  concealed,  and  here 
he  is,  in  the  very  act  of  endurance,  represented  so 
naturally  that  I  almost  heard  him  scream.  If 
Hutchins  or  Nasmyth  had  been  the  operators,  he 
might  have  kept  his  secret  for  ever,  as  patients  have 
declared  they  scarcely  knew  when  the  deed  was 
done,  while  some  even  protest  it  is  almost  a  plea- 
sure, but  this  painting  commemorated  tooth-drawing 
in  the  old  school,  and  seemed  so  horribly  true  to  life, 
I  should  soon  have  felt  a  toothache  with  looking  at  it. 

I  have  often  wondered  how  it  happens  that  den- 
tists are  almost  invariably  great  encouragers  of 
sculpture  and  painting !  We  lately  heard,  that 
when  Cartwright,  who  makes  one  of  the  largest 
professional  fortunes  in  London,  bespoke  a  picture 
by  Landseer,  he  enclosed  him  in  payment  a  blank 
order  on  the  Bank  of  England,  to  be  filled  up  a  dis^ 
cretion  !  and  the  wife  of  a  celebrated  dentist,  some 


FORRES. 


149 


time  since,  out-bid  every  competitor,  for  some  beau- 
tiful work  of  art,  which  was  long  and  keenly  con- 
tested, but  I  could  not  help  laughing  when  told,  that 
in  the  triumph  of  success,  she  exclaimed,  "  It  will 
be  of  great  use  to  divert  our  patients  in  the  opera- 
tion room  !"  I  scarcely  think  even  Hogarth  could 
succeed  there ;  but  this  representation  of  the  Jew 
would  serve  as  very  appropriate  scenery  and  deco- 
ration for  such  a  torture  chamber. 

"How  far  is't  call'd  to  Forres?"  Shakspeare, 
hem  !  The  town  of  Forres  may  be  recognised  at 
any  distance,  or  in  any  picture,  by  the  round,  hedge- 
hog-shaped hill  of  Clunie,  which  raises  its  dark 
well-covered  head  immediately  behind  the  streets, 
sm-mounted  by  another  of  the  many  ugly  monuments 
by  wliich  Nelson's  memory  has  been  commemo- 
rated. I  wish  people  had  more  taste !  We  toiled 
up  twice  in  one  day  to  admire  a  splendid  view  from 
the  summit  of  this  eminence,  and,  when  the  sun  was 

setting  in  brilliant  style,  A had  the  barbarity 

to  propose  a  third  expedition,  but  there  are  limits  to 
what  a  rational  being  can  undertake,  and  I  sighed 
over  the  hill  instead  of  ascending  it. 

Not  quite  half  a  mile  from  Forres,  stands  pro- 
bably the  most  ancient  piece  of  history  in  Great 
Britain.  To  commemorate  the  final  retreat  from 
Scotland  of  the  Danish  king  Sueno,  a  dark  gray 
stone  was  erected,  measuring  about  twenty  feet 
13* 


150  FORRES. 

perpendicularly  above  ground,  and  supposed  to 
penetrate  almost  equally  far  underneath.  The 
whole  shaft  is  in  one  unbroken  piece,  and  must  have 
travelled  from  some  unknown  distance,  as  no  such 
stone  can  be  found  in  all  that  neighbourhood.  On 
the  surface  is  carved  a  hieroglyphic  representation 
of  the  whole  Danish  army,  some  on  foot  and  others 
on  horseback,  some  with  heads,  and  others  without, 
the  drawing  and  execution  being  nearly  equal  to 
what  may  be  seen  on  cakes  of  gingerbread  at  a  fair. 
The  material  is  so  very  hard  a  granite,  that  those 
who  executed  the  devices  must  have  possessed  strong 
hands  and  good  chisels.  Few  works  of  man  have 
remained  so  long  unchanged  on  this  earth,  where 
"  monuments  themselves  memorials  need,"  while  the 
frail  beings  who  raised  it,  could  scarcely  have  anti- 
cipated how  many  ages  would  roll  over  their  for- 
gotten graves,  while  this  only  record  should  remain 
of  their  ever  having  existed  at  all. 

Being  much  interested  in  this  very  ancient  relic, 
I  hurried  to  the  landlady  at  Forres,  with  a  multitude 
of  questions  about  her  venerable  neighbour,  but  she 
civilly  repHed,  with  a  look  of  indifference,  "  I've 
often  he'erd  tell  of  that  auld  stane,  but  I  never  saw 

it !"     A wished  her  to  start  oif  instantly,  as  the 

evening  was  fine,  that  not  another  day  might  be 
added  to  the  many  she  had  already  lost,  but  we 
could  not  light  up  a  single  spark  of  interest  or  en- 


SANQUHAR    HOUSE.  151 

thusiasm  !  A  dish  of  whipped  cream  would  have 
excited  her  curiosity  ten  times  more  ardently,  and 
the  hoary  pillar  of  Forres  may  stand  there  as  long 
as  it  has  stood  already,  before  she  moves  a  yard  to 
behold  it !  Our  hostess  would  make  an  exemplary 
quaker,  as  one  of  their  superstitions  is  never  to  go 
sight-seeing,  probably  thinking,  that  after  female 
curiosity  having  done  so  much  harm  originally,  it 
should  always  now  be  kept  in  check.  I  once  asked 
a  quaker  lady,  recently  returned  from  Orkney,  what 
she  thought  of  the  fine  cathedral  at  Kirkwall,  when 
she  replied,  with  a  cold  reproving  look,  "  I  believe 
we  passed  it!"  The  quakers  have  a  rule  also 
against  dressed  dishes,  and  their  whole  dinners  con- 
sist of  plain  joints,  apparently  on  the  plan  of  your 
friend  who  always  ordered  an  additional  chicken  for 
every  additional  visiter,  till  at  last  sixteen  hungry 
guests  sat  down  to  sixteen  roasted  fowls ;  but  this 
would  not  have  suited  om*  good  landlady,  who  is  by 
no  means  of  the  Mary  Stedman  school,  but  was 
quite  a  "  professed  cook."  She  had  acted  the  part 
of  Mrs.  Couch  or  Pouch  for  many  years  at  Brodie 
Castle,  and  sent  us  up  for  dinner  a  complete  page 
of  Mrs.  Glass,  or  Meg  Dodds,  copied  to  the  very 
hfe. 

Sanquhar  House,  near  Forres,  the  property  of 
Mr.  Fraser  Toiler,  is  veiy  charmingly  situated,  com- 
manding a  fine  view  of  nearly  a  whole  county,  and 


152  DARNAWAY    CASTLE. 

of  a  rich  landscape,  reaching  even  to  the  Caithness 
liills.  The  house  itself  is  rather  too  much  in  the 
gable-end  school  of  architecture  to  suit  my  fancy, 
but  it  may  perhaps  please  other  people.  A  former 
proprietor  of  this  estate  became  bankrupt,  sold  the 
estate,  and,  in  his  old  age,  wandered  as  a  beggar  to 
that  very  door  w^here  once  he  had  been  proprietor  ! 
Many  would  rather  have  starved. 

We  remained  all  Sunday  at  Forres,  and  next 
morning  hired  horses  for  the  day,  to  see  how  much 
of  this  neighbourhood  they  could  contrive  to  show 
us.  You  may  remember  the  old  lady  who  used  to 
say  that  "  if  she  killed  a  pair  of  post-horses  with 
fatigue  one  day,  they  came  alive  the  next  morning," 
and  really  ours  achieved  wonders  yesterday,  though 
I  forgot  to  ask  whether  to-day  they  had  been  re- 
suscitated or  not. 

When  we  were  about  to  proceed,  under  a  bril- 
liant sunshine,  towards  Darnaway  Castle,  notice  was 
brought,  that  during  the  late  hurricane,  so  many 
trees  had  been  blown  down  across  the  new  approach, 
the  road  w^as  impassable.  This  threatened  a  com- 
plete discomfiture,  but  fortunately  we  were  driven 
by  an  old  experienced  post-boy — drivers  remain 
always  boys — who  had  plied  backwards  and  for- 
wards here  during  thirty  years.  He  took  us  towards 
a  gate,  flanked  by  a  large  arbitrary  ticket,  forbidding 
all  access  for  carriages  in  that  direction,  but  he 


DARNAWAY    CASTLE.  153 

pointed  at  it  contemptuously  with  the  end  of  his  whip, 
saying,  in  a  triumphant  tone,  "  We'll  get  through 
for  a'  that !"  Accordingly  our  daring  wheels  rolled 
on  uninterruptedly,  and  the  very  difficulties  added 
to  my  enjoyment  on  finally  succeeding.  The  park 
scenery  is  here  magnificent — such  immeasurable  ex- 
tent, and  such  an  unbounded  profusion  of  trees, 
though  none  are  of  very  pre-eminent  size,  and  is 
framed  in  by  a  great  fir  forest,  by  the  ocean,  and  by 
the  distant  mountains  of  Sutherland  and  Caithness. 
Lord  Moray's  family  motto  is  a  key  to  all  reli- 
gion, "  Salvation  through  Christ  the  Redeemer ;" 
and  it  is  a  remarkable  circumstance,  that  the  late 
earl  had  his  coffin  prepared,  and  constantly  kept  in 
his  bed-room,  during  many  years  previous  to  his 
death,  which  must  certainly  have  acted  as  a  per- 
petual admonition,  though  one  of  the  greatest  mys- 
teries in  our  nature  is,  the  impossibility,  almost,  of 
realizing  that  we  are  ourselves  to  die,  even  though 
w^e  make  it  our  daily  duty  to  reflect  on  it  and  to  be 
ready.  It  seems  easily  said,  and  frequently  talked 
of,  that  death  is  inevitable,  but  to  feel  the  actual 
consciousness  that  this  busy  world  shall  go  on  as 
busily  for  ages  after  we  are  buried,  as  it  did  for  the 
ages  before  we  were  bom — ^that  our  bodies  shall  be 
imprisoned  for  centuries,  perhaps,  in  dark  and  dreary 
separation  from  the  soul,  and  that  our  spirits,  in  the 
meantime,   shall   awake  to   instant  consciousness, 


154  DARNAWAY   CASTLE. 

amidst  a  scene  unutterably  wonderful,  where  we 
must  for  ever  and  ever  exist — all  this  bursts  upon 
our  thoughts  occasionally,  with  that  awe  and  aston- 
ishment which  it  is  fitted  to  create,  but  amidst  the 
varied  occupations  of  life,  how  often  it  seems  as  new 
and  surprising  in  all  its  solemn  reality,  as  if  we  had 
never  before  imagined  that  death  could  be  to  us  in- 
dividually, as  real  as  it  has  been  to  others,  and  that 
we  are  hurrying  along  on  the  irresistible  tide  which 
shall  plunge  us  into  eternity. 

Darnaway  Castle  is  about  thirty  years  of  age, 
and  no  great  beauty  in  external  aspect.  Though 
built  of  the  very  finest  freestone,  in  a  situation  ex- 
ceedingly magnificent,  yet  taking  it  as  a  house,  this 
large  pile  of  building  is  more  handsome  than  beau- 
tiful. The  front  is  Grecian,  the  ornaments  over  the 
windows  Gothic,  and  the  turrets  are  like  eau-de- 
Cologne  bottles.  The  point  of  chief  interest  at 
Darnaway  Castle  is  Randolph's  Hall,  built  by  the 
celebrated  nephew  of  Robert  Bruce,  a  fine  baronial 
apartment  five  centuries  old,  in  magnificent  propor- 
tion, being  more  than  a  hundred  feet  long.  It  is 
canopied  thirty  feet  high  by  an  arched  roof  of  oak, 
like  that  of  Westminster  Hall,  perfectly  blackened 
by  time,  and  it  is  floored  \\4th  stone  flags.  The  in- 
ternal appearance  resembles  that  of  a  fine  old  parish 
church  without  pews,  and  the  only  seats  consist  of 
some  very  antique  benches,  with  richly  carved  sides, 


DARNAWAY    CASTLE.  155 

and  various  extraordinary  oak  chairs,  all  of  differ- 
ent shapes,  and  carved  in  a  variety  of  whimsical  pat- 
terns. These  seats  were  assuredly  used  before  the 
word  "  comfort"  had  been  invented.  If  such  chairs 
were  still  in  universal  fashion,  few^er  country  gen- 
tlemen would  become  sleepy  and  apoplectic  after 
dinner,  as,  instead  of  spring  cushions,  the  very  seats 
are  elaborately  carved,  and  looked  by  no  means 
inviting  to  sit  upon. 

Lord  Randolph's  table  is  also  in  a  very  unso- 
phisticated style,  being  nearly  as  it  came  originally 
from  the  neighbouring  forest,  and  every  thing  with- 
in this  primitive  old  hall  is  formed  of  these  two  ma- 
terials, wood  and  stone.  Most  unfortunately  the 
architect  who  spoiled  the  new  house,  thought  it  ne- 
cessary to  spoil  the  old  one  also,  and  he  has  exhib- 
ited his  taste  by  modernizing  the  windows  into 
something  very  like  those  of  a  dissenting  chapel, 
and,  dreadful  to  relate,  the  grand  sweep  of  an  arch, 
which  once  formed  the  chimney,  and  where  a  car- 
riage might  almost  have  been  turned  round,  is  now 
lowered  and  narrowed,  so  that  an  ox  would  find 
some  difficulty  in  being  roasted  whole  there.  Very 
few  architects  are  fit  to  be  trusted  in  an  ancient 
house,  for  the  new  parts  too  often  say  no  to  the  an- 
tiquity of  the  old.  A  painter  might  as  well  have 
attempted  to  touch  up  a  Raphael,  as  a  modern  builder 
to  improve  Randolph's  Hall,  but  builders  all  run 


156  DARNAWAY    CASTLE. 

mad  whenever  they  get  into  an  old  house,  and  either 
knocl^down,  mutilate,  or  disfigure  it. 

The  ancestors  at  Darnaway  Castle  have  a  more 
aristocratic  air  than  in  most  other  places,  all  having 
sat,  apparently,  to  the  best  artists,  in  the  full  dress 
trappings  of  their  rank  and  station,  stars,  ribbons, 
robes,  and  garters,  looking  "  every  inch  a  peer." 
Some  of  the  ladies  wore  large  elaborate  ruffs,  so 
white  and  stiff,  you  might  have  fancied  their  heads 
were  placed  on  silver  salvers,  and  one  collar,  in 
particular,  we  noticed,  which  a  modern  milliner 
might  have  despaired  of  imitating,  while  the  lady's 
face  who  wore  it,  had  faded  so  much,  that  she 
seemed  sitting  in  a  fainting  fit. 

The  most  curious  portrait  of  all  was  Queen 
Mary,  disguised,  by  way  of  a  frolic,  in  boy's  clothes ! 
She  wore  long  scarlet  stockings,  black  velvet  coat, 
black  kilt,  w^hite  sleeves,  and  such  a  ruff!  Her 
Majesty  was  looking  as  grave  and  serious  upon 
this  extraordinary  piece  of  jocularity,  as  if  she  had 
been  receiving  the  reproof  she  merited  from  John 
Knox. 

We  ended  our  inspection  of  Darnaw^ay  Castle 
as  usual  on  the  roof,  which  displays  a  perfect  map 
of  Scotland,  from  the  best  authorities.  I  dare  not 
guess  how  many  counties  we  saw  at  once,  including 
fifty  miles  of  hilly  coast,  a  world  of  w^ood  extending 
tw^enty  miles,  the  sea,  and  a  circle  of  snow-speckled 


DARNAWAY    CASTLE.  157 

mountains.     On  an  eminence  like  this,  we  ought  to 
borrow  the  eyes  of  an  eagle. 

A  very  celebrated  and  beautiful  heronry  belongs 
to  Lord  Moray  near  this,  on  the  Findhorn,  and  when 
I  stood  upon  the  towering  pinnacles,  two  hundi'ed 
feet  high,  from  which  the  birds  may  be  watched  to 
most  advantage,  the  river,  rocks,  and  wood,  seemed 
an  exact  counterpart  of  Wyndcliff  on  the  Wye,  quite 
magnificently  romantic.  A shouted  and  clap- 
ped his  hands,  after  which  more  than  a  hundi^ed 
herons  took  wing,  and  soared  through  the  air  at  so 
slow  and  dignified  a  rate,  that  they  might  easily 
have  been  shot,  though  herons  are  so  tenacious  of 
life,  that  they  have  generally  to  be  fired  at  twice,  or 
even  oftener.  After  being  wounded,  these  birds  are 
very  unsafe  to  deal  with,  because  they  fly  at  a 
sportsman  ^dth  fury,  endeavouring  to  peck  out  his 
eyes,  and  their  strength  is  considerable,  as  a  heron 
can  carry  with  ease  to  his  nest,  a  fish,  weighing  up- 
wards of  a  pound.  Each  nest  seemed  almost  large 
enough  to  hold  a  moderate  sized  man,  and  I  counted 
above  twenty  nests  in  one  elm,  which  must  be  apt 
to  break  down  the  branches,  some  of  which  are  so 
festooned  with  them,  that  you  might  fancy  a  fishing 
net  had  been  suspended  over  all  the  trees.  The 
whole  colony  interested  me  extremely,  and  I  felt 

quite  sorry  when  A came  up  at  last,  like  one 

of  the  London  pohce,  desiring  me  to  "  move  on." 
14 


158  ALTYRE. 

Our  next  step  was  through  a  scene  of  almost 
unearthly  beauty,  to  Altyre,  the  most  lovely  and 
loveable  place  you  can  conceive,  belonging  to  Sir 
William  Gumming  Gordon,  chief  of  the  clan  Gum- 
ming, and  representative  of  the  old  Lords  of  Bade- 
noch.  The  house  is  a  perfect  cluster  of  arbours  and 
green-houses,  apparently  meant  for  the  muses  and 
graces,  for  pleasure,  gayety,  and  romance,  but  never 
intended  for  the  mere  vulgar,  ordinary  purposes  of 
life.  Within,  without,  and  around,  you  see  nothing 
but  flowers  rushing  in  at  every  window,  and  beset- 
ting: all  the  doors.  This  is  the  court  of  Flora  her- 
self,  and  you  would  suppose  we  had  come  for  a  hor- 
ticultural show ! 

The  approach  commences  through  a  dark  fir- 
wood,  springing  up  amidst  purple  heath  ;  and  grad- 
ually, as  we  advanced,  the  grounds  became  enriched 
with  evergreens,  varied  by  forest  trees,  and  bor- 
dered with  turf  round  the  house.  The  green  lawn 
is  hke  Genoa  velvet,  studded  with  fuschias,  gerani- 
ums, carnations,  every  flower,  in  short,  that  has  a 
name,  overshadowed  by  graceful  walnut  trees,  and 
the  entrance  hall  emits  the  fragrance  and  atmos- 
phere of  a  conservatory.  Your  friend,  vrho  said  she 
could  not  sleep  for  three  nights  after  seeing  a  better 
garden  than  her  own,  would  never  have  closed  an 
eye  had  she  visited  at  Altyre.  What  do  the  quakers 
think  of  Nature  for  dressing  in  such  gaudy  colours  ? 


ALTYRE.  159 

But,  as  Dr.  Johnson  says,  "  a  man  who  is  unfit  for 
a  better  world  in  a  blue  coat,  is  not  very  likely  to 
go  there  in  a  gray."  It  is  a  perpetual  miracle  cer- 
tainly, to  see  the  dark,  dingy  earth,  hourly  produ- 
cing those  brilliant  and  fragrant  blossoms  with 
which  such  a  scene  is  decorated,  like  our  own 
barren  minds,  in  which  there  is  no  good  by  nature, 
and  which  require  the  seed  to  be  sown  in  them,  and 
the  sunshine  of  heaven  to  nourish  those  flowers  of 
excellence,  and  those  fruits  of  holiness,  which  can 
alone  render  them  lovely  or  attractive. 

In  the  garden  of  Eden,  probably,  the  flowers 
never  would  have  faded,  but  they  suffer  the  penalty, 
like  all  creation,  of  our  frailty  and  guilt.  It  is  very 
remarkable,  that  no  flower  is  perfectly  black  !  they 
are  the  toys  and  gems  of  nature,  given  as  an  inno- 
cent recreation,  suited  to  every  age  and  every  rank, 
equally  calculated  for  our  seasons  of  joy  or  of 
sorrow — of  sickness  or  of  health.  Though  the 
moral  lesson  that  they  teach  speaks  of  short-lived 
prosperity,  decay,  and  death,  for  truly  "  the  loveliest 
things  on  earth  are  those  that  soonest  fade  away  ;" 
yet  these  touching  recollections  are  brought  to  mind 
under  an  aspect  of  beauty  and  cheerfulness,  calcu- 
lated to  testify  with  how  much  bounty  and  goodness 
the  pleasures  of  life  are  sent  to  alleviate  its  sorrows. 
Those  w^ho  find  the  thorns  of  life  unembellished  by 
its   flowers,  may  generally  blame  themselves  for 


160  ALTYRE. 

seeking  in  the  artificial  dissipations  of  the  world, 
what  can  be  found  only  in  those  natural  enjoyments 
provided  for  us  by  our  wise  and  beneficent  Creator. 
Moral  writers  have  often  remarked,  that  the  gay 
and  transient  flowers  are  scattered  on  the  world's 
surface,  while  the  more  precious  and  durable  metals 
must  be  laboriously  dug  for ;  but,  while  the  deepest 
mines  should  be  explored,  the  lovely  blossoms  need 
not  be  neglected,  and  I  never  enjoy  a  flower-garden 
like  this,  without  feeling  convinced  it  affords  one  of 
the  few  amusements  of  which  it  would  be  impos- 
sible to  tire.  The  bee  sipping  its  draught  in  every 
flower,  scarcely  obeys  the  instinct  of  nature  more 
naturally  than  we  do  when  inhaling  their  fragrance, 
and  admiring  their  lovely  forms ;  and  the  Bible  re- 
peatedly directs  our  devout  attention  to  flowers. 
How  truly  may  we  say,  when  contemplating  a 
richly  decorated  garden,  "  Solomon,  in  all  his  glory, 
was  not  arrayed  like  one  of  these  !" 

"  How  happily,  how  happily  the  flowers  die  away  ! 
Oh  !  could  we  but  return  to  earth  as  easily  as  they  ; 
Just  live  a  life  of  sunshine,  of  innocence,  and  bloom, 
Then  drop  without  decrepitude  or  pain  into  the  tomb." 

This  busy  day  seemed  a  fortnight  long,  we  said, 
did,  and  saw  so  much.  I  pity  every  body  who  has 
not  seen  Altyre,  and  was  shocked  to  hear  that  a 
situation  has  been  fixed  on  for  a  new  house ;  but  if 


MOY    HOUSE.  161 

the  old  one  be  deserted,  the  Queen  of  the  Fairies 
will  certainly  take  possession,  as  it  seems  already- 
fitted  up  on  purpose  for  her  summer  residence. 

We  dined  ^vith  the  Miss  Cummings  at  Moy 
House,  where  the  old  garden  enchanted  me,  being 
ornamented  with  the  finest  "g-mw,"  alias  wild 
cherry,  trees  in  Scotland,  which  had  attained  the 
size  of  respectable  forest  trees,  and  were  bending 
beneath  the  weight  of  their  fruit ;  and  here,  during 
last  summer,  by  no  means  commendable  for  being 
either  warm  or  dry,  peaches  ripened  in  abundance 
on  the  open,  unflued  wall !  The  gardener  at  Moy 
gained  a  prize  this  season  for  that  curious  plant,  the 
Hoya  Carnosa,  the  large  clustering  flowers  of  which 
resemble  a  ready  made  honeycomb,  with  a  drop  of 
honey  hanging  from  each  petal,  the  whole  being 
modelled  in  a  substance  so  exactly  resembling  wax, 
that  you  might  almost  make  it  into  candles.  The 
bees  would  give  over  working  if  they  saw  this 
flower,  and  no  plant  was  ever  more  easily  propa- 
gated, seeing  that  a  single  green  leaf,  carelessly 
stuck  in  the  ground,  will  take  root,  and  become  fit 
for  a  horticultural  show  before  the  following  year. 

Moy  House  belonged,  in  the  previous  generation, 
to  an  old  humourist,  who  became  so  indignant  at  his 
next  heir,  Mr.  Grant,  then  of  Red  Castle,  for  calling 
on  him  one  day,  in  a  carriage  and  four,  that  he 
altered  his  will,  bequeathing  his  property  to  a  per- 
14* 


162  MOY   HOUSE. 

fectly  different  Mr.  Grant,  who  was  probably  satis- 
fied with  a  chaise  and  pair.  We  heard  of  a  more 
prudent  and  successful  heir  presumptive  elsewhere, 
w^ho  always  left  his  equipage  at  the  neighbouring 
inn,  put  on  a  shabby  coat,  and  walked,  stick  in 
hand,  to  the  house,  a  plan  much  to  be  recommended 
where  an  eccentric  old  gentleman  is  in  question. 
Wills  and  marriages  are  both  generally  so  very 
whimsical  and  unaccountable,  that  I  have  ceased  to 
wonder  at  either ;  and  if  ever  wealthy  old  people 
are  to  exhibit  caprice  and  bad  feeling,  it  seems 
chiefly  reserved  for  the  last  will.  There  must  be  a 
great  degree  of  infidelity  in  those  w^ho  leave  behind 
them  a  testament  w^hich  they  would  be  ashamed 
while  alive,  that  the  world  should  see,  not  apparent- 
ly reflecting,  that  when  this  posthumous  deed  is 
read,  the  testator  shall  be  already  in  the  presence 
of  a  Holy  God,  who  condemns  every  angry  feeling, 
and  who  will  make  us  responsible  for  the  conscien- 
tious disposal  of  all  we  have,  and  all  w^e  leave 
behind. 

A  gentleman  who  had  been  whistling  by  the 
fireside  for  an  hour  one  day,  beside  a  numerous  cir- 
cle of  visiters,  at  last  exclaimed,  as  if  brino:ino:  forth 
the  result  of  his  meditations,  "  I  wonder  nobody 
ever  left  me  any  money !"  This  is  a  subject  of 
wonder  often,  I  dare  say,  to  others  who  say  less 
about  it,  but,  like  all epaihly  pleasures,  even  a  legacy 


MOY    HOUSE.  163 

has  its  drawbacks,  as  it  implies  the  loss  of  a  friend 
whose  attachment  was  far  more  precious,  and,  there- 
fore, even  for  the  most  mercenary  this  is  the  last 
way  in  which  one  could  desire  to  grow  rich.  When 
a  lady  remarked  once,  what  a  pleasure  it  would  be, 
succeeding  unexpectedly  to  some  rich  relation  whom 
you  did  not  care  for,  another  very  coolly  replied, 
"  Or  to  one  you  do  care  for  !  it  would  be  all  one  in 
a  month  !  look  at  the  sons  and  brothers  who  inherit 
estates !"  It  certainly  would  be  curious  if,  by 
magical  agency,  the  hue  of  people's  dress  could  be- 
come in  exact  accordance  with  the  hue  of  their 
spirits !  Then  it  would  be  seen  that  those  who 
seem  gay,  cheerful,  and  reckless,  are  frequently  suf- 
fering under  the  darkest  despondency,  while  in  the 
case  of  successions  it  would  often  become  obvious 
that  there  had  been  more  bombazine  and  crape  than 
real  sorrow  ;  but  I  wish  the  old  proprietor  of  Moy 
had  seen  us  arrive  in  our  humble  chaise,  and  be- 
queathed me  this  smiling  place,  so  well-wooded,  so 
highly  cultivated,  and  altogether  so  enjoyable. 
Perhaps  what  contributed  most  of  all  to  make  me 
like  this  house  might  be,  the  pleasant  circle  within 
doors,  which  would  make  any  residence  delightful  j 
but  the  curtain  has  dropped  over  it,  and  the  sunshine 
of  that  evening  must  live  only  in  my  memory,  where 
it  will  always  remain  as  a  pleasing  remembrance. 
The  motto  of  our  family,  "  J'aime  le  mellieur,"  is 


164  MOY    HOUSE. 

certainly  my  case  in  respect  to  the  society  we  meet, 
and  we  have  hitherto  been  very  fortunate.  A 
coachmaker  once,  by  mistake,  altered,  most  distress- 
ingly, the  meaning  of  these  words  on  our  shield,  by 
substituting  an  inscription  with  which  our  carriage 
drove  about  for  several  years,  but  I  believe  the  poor 
man  did  not  really  mean  any  jest  when  he  painted 
it  "  Jamais  le  mellieur  !" 

I  remain, 

For  self  and  partner, 

Yours. 


MORAYSHIRE. 


The  braes  ascend  like  lofty  wa's, 
The  foamin'  stream  deep  roaring  fa's 
O'erhung  wi'  fragrant  spreading  shaws. 

Burns. 

My  dear  Cousin, — As  there  are  said  to  be  fif- 
teen days  more  of  summer  in  Morayshire,  than  in 
any  other  part  of  Scotland,  we  seem  to  have  ob- 
tained a  lease  of  them  all  at  once !  The  weather 
has  been  most  enchanting  lately,  and  is  altogether 
doing  the  civil  thing  by  us,  being  exactly  such  as 
we  require  for  perfect  happiness.  I  remember  the 
time,  when  you  and  I  used  to  wish  the  weather  of 
the  whole  world  might  be  regulated  so  as  to  suit 
our  one  solitary  geranium  in  a  flower-pot ;  and  how 
apt  I  am  still  to  think,  if  the  fields  be  burned  as  dry 
and  brown  as  a  slice  of  toast,  that  it  matters  little, 
provided  my  own  bonnet  escape  a  shower,  though, 
I  dare  say,  the  farmers  would  vote  me  a  new  one, 
rather  than  do  without  rain  another  day.  It  is 
lucky  we  are  not  allowed  a  voice  on  the  subject, 
for  even  sunshine  itself  might  be  indulged  in  to 
excess. 

We  have   this   day  enjoyed,  at   Reluglas,  the 


166  MORAYSHIRE. 

highest  perfection  of  glen  scenery,  quite  an  exag- 
geration of  Roslin,  formerly  belonging  to  one  of  our 
leading  Whig  orators,  and  the  author  of  several 
very  popular  works.  Sir  Thomas  Dick  Lauder,  but 
recently  purchased  by  Mr.  M'Killigan,  a  native  of 
this  neighbourhood.  We  were  told,  that  from  his 
earliest  years,  he  had  almost  hopelessly  desired  to 
possess  this  exquisite  place,  and  after  realizing  an 
adequate  sum,  during  one  successful  voyage  to 
China,  by  a  happy  coincidence  he  returned  at  the 
very  time  it  was  sold,  and  realized  his  juvenile  cas- 
tle in  the  air.  Who  would  not  go  to  China  to-mor- 
row for  so  delightful  a  result  ?  It  is  seldom  men 
gain  so  precisely  the  point  they  aim  at,  and  I  hope 
the  new  proprietor  may  long  continue  to  enjoy  it 
as  he  does  now,  and  to  embellish  the  place  as  taste- 
fully as  he  has  begun.  The  grounds  are  covered 
wdth  a  perfect  eruption  of  roses,  besides  being  studded 
over  with  rare  plants  of  great  value,  and  of  most 
uncommon  aspect,  imported  by  Mr.  M'Killigan  him- 
self. The  Horticultural  Society  of  London,  when 
vainly  trying  to  naturalize  the  beautiful  variegated 
azalia,  of  which  we  saw  several  plants  quite  at 
home  here,  expended  no  less  than  jG300,  while  Mr. 
Wright,  a  nurseryman,  paid  jBIOO  for  one  speci- 
men, and  has  since  realized  jEIOOO  by  propagating 
and  selling  it. 

The  interior  of  this  house  is  beautifully  fitted  up 


RELUGLAS.  167 

with  English  comfort  and  Asiatic  decorations,  but 
the  collection  of  corals  alone  might  occupy  agreea- 
bly more  hours  than  we  could  spend  on  the  entire 
place.  They  resemble  the  minutest  carvings  in 
ivory,  some  representing  a  little  forest  of  plants, 
while  others  were  little  circular  worlds,  formed  by 
a  combination  among  myriads  of  living  atoms,  which 
thus  raise  habitations  for  themselves,  and  increase 
their  number,  till  at  last  they  gradually  expand  to 
such  a  bulk,  that  they  become  islands  large  enough 
for  man  himself  to  exist  on  !  What  will  not  perse- 
verance do !  One  coral  island,  examined  by  Cap- 
tain Beechy,  was  thirty  miles  in  diameter,  and  many 
of  the  South  Sea  islands  began  their  existence  in  the 
world  on  a  scale  not  larger  than  those  masses  of 
coral  which  we  v/eighed  in  our  hands.  What  a 
lesson  this  might  be  on  the  importance  of  httle 
things !  drops  make  the  ocean,  moments  make  the 
year,  and  trifles  life. 

At  Reluglas,  the  small  remains  of  an  ancient 
vitrified  fort,  served  as  a  treat  to  antiquaries  formerly, 
but  the  gardener  once,  in  a  fit  of  ingenuity,  thought 
he  could  improve  this  old  relic  by  building  a  massy 
wall  round  the  spot,  over  which  he  scattered  a  top- 
dressing  of  the  vitrified  material,  looking  like  frag- 
ments of  broken  bottles,  and  now  the  whole  is  me- 
tamorphosed into  a  perfect  deformity. 

Travellers  who  merely  skirt  along  the  highroads 


168  RELUGLAS. 

of  Scotland,  can  form  no  conception  how  much  they 
miss  by  not  tracing  up  such  glens  as  those  of  the 
Findhorn  and  Divie,  bounded  by  banks,  hills,  forests, 
and  heath-covered  mountains,  without  one  barren 
spot  to  disfigure  the  landscape.  The  whole  scene 
is  enlivened  too,  by  places  which  are  the  very  ro- 
mance of  Highland  residences,  every  one  fit  to  form 
the  frontispiece  to  any  poem  you  ever  read.  We 
might  imagine  the  house  of  Reluglas  had  wandered 
over  from  Switzerland,  with  its  overhanging  roof, 
like  a  slouched  hat,  and  its  deep  casements,  trimmed 
with  flowers,  while  the  elegant  mansion  of  Dunphail, 
built  on  a  plan  by  Playfair,  seems  inside  and  out  as 
if  it  were  imported  ready-made  from  Italy.  Do  you 
remember  our  being  diverted  once  at  a  lady  who 
had  spent  a  summer  at  Naples,  and  came  home, 
completely  Italianized,  saying  to  you  at  dinner, 
soon  afterwards,  in  a  tone  of  disgust,  "Fancy  me 
with  my  Italian  appetite,  set  down  to  roast  beeef !" 
But  here  she  might  have  lived  in  happy  content- 
ment, surrounded  by  books,  pictures,  ornaments, 
every  thing, — even  the  very  sky,  Italian. 

Nothing  is  more  surprising,  in  these  glens,  than 
to  observe  the  clever  way  in  which  trees  contrive 
to  root  themselves  on  stones,  when  they  have  liter- 
ally nothing  but  the  rifted  rocks  to  hold  by,  and  to 
live  upon.  The  fibres  are  at  first  no  larger  than 
bits  of  thread,  penetrating  every  crevice,  and  grad- 


DUNPHAIL.  169 

ually  enlarging  into  cables,  till  at  length  they  be- 
come strong  enough  to  elbow  the  very  rocks  from 
their  stations.  Many  large  blocks  of  stone  have 
thus  been  precipitated  downwards,  while  the  trees, 
clasping  and  riveting  their  arms  around  the  remain- 
ing rocks,  look  down  into  the  abyss  beneath,  and 
cling  to  their  places  with  the  tenacity  of  a  states- 
man. 

The  grounds  at  Dunphail  are  of  a  softer  and 
more  English  character  than  those  of  Reluglas;  the 
verdant  hills,  opening  with  a  graceful  sweep  on 
each  side,  and  charmingly  varied  by  a  crowd  of  dis- 
tant foliage,  while  near  the  house  we  admired 
groups  of  prodigious  forest  trees,  as  round  and  gi-ace- 
ful  as  ostrich  feathers.  When  the  wind  blew  over 
their  lofty  tops,  and  bent  them  towards  the  earth,  I 
could  not  but  think,  how  apt  an  emblem  they  ex- 
hibit of  our  own  minds,  so  easily  agitated,  so  soon 
almost  prostrated  by  the  sweeping  blast  of  sorrow  or 
misfortune,  yet  so  speedily  restored  again  to  that 
comparative  rest  and  peace  which  are  habitual  to 
those  who  can  rightly  apply  that  sacred  text,  "  The 
wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth,  and  thou  hearest  the 
sound  thereof,  but  canst  not  tell  whence  it  cometh, 
and  whither  it  goeth :  so  is  every  one  that  is  born 
of  the  Spirit." 

The  river  here  is  truly  enchanting,  and  we  saw 
from  the  house  of  Dunphail,  a  beautifully  situated 
15 


170  DUNPHAIL. 

luinous  castle,  surrounded  by  a  deep  ravine,  to  which 
belongs  a  fine  old  tradition,  worth  its  weight  in 
gold.  The  story  has  been  potted  and  preserved  so 
long,  that  you  must  try  a  taste  of  it  now ;  and  I 
liked  beyond  measure  thus  to  read  the  book  of  his- 
tory, in  folio,  by  standing  on  the  very  spot  where  all 
its  events  actually  occurred,  and  almost  beholding 
the  very  individuals  living,  acting,  and  dying,  as 
they  did  many  centuries  ago.  I  often  think,  what 
an  extraordinary  picture  gallery  it  would  make,  if 
a  representation  w^ere  supernaturally  to  appear  on 
the  silent  walls  of  every  old  building,  showing  the 
strange  scenes  they  have  witnessed  since  the  hour  of 
their  being  built.  The  very  rooms  we  ourselves 
daily  inhabit,  could  testify  of  joys  and  sorrows,  now 
for  ever  forgotten,  which  once  agitated  the  hearts 
of  many  lying  at  rest  in  the  tomb ;  and  those  w^alls 
which  have  echoed  the  laughter  or  the  grief  of  those 
V,  ho  are  no  more,  and  of  those  who  yet  survive,  will 
hereafter  be  the  property  of  unborn  generations,  to 
whom  our  existence  will  be  a  tale  of  old  times. 

These  thoughts  on  our  own  unconsciousness  of 
what  once  passed  within  the  walls  around  us,  were 
particularly  impressed  upon  me  some  years  ago, 
when  we  heard  that  a  family  who  had  hired  a  coun- 
try residence  near  Edinburgh,  where  they  enjoyed 
many  cheerful  hom's  round  the  fireside,  having  oc- 
casion once  to  lift  the  drawing-room  hearth-stone, 


DUNPHAIL.  171 

were  startled  and  shocked  to  find  immediately  under- 
neath, the  ghastly  spectacle  of  a  skeleton  in  chains  ! 
This  house  had  belonged  to  Chesely  of  Dairy,  who 
was  hanged  for  assassinating  Lockhart  of  Carnwath, 
the  president  of  the  Court  of  Sessions,  and  the  crim- 
inal's own  family  having  stolen  the  body  off  the 
gallows,  had  privately  buried  it  there.  So  frightful 
a  spectacle  was  like  some  apparition  from  another 
world ;  but  nothing  so  terrifying  appeared  in  the 
old  castle  of  Dunphail,  formerly  the  scene  of  many 
bold  and  daring  actions. 

The  Cummings  were  among  the  greatest  and 
bravest  of  all  the  Highland  clans  ;  and  King  Robert 
Bruce,  w^ho  washed  to  exterminate  them,  created 
Randolph,  his  own  nephew,  Earl  of  Moray,  and 
being  in  a  generous  mood,  granted  him  this  estate. 
Old  Gumming  of  Dunphail,  not  seeing  the  ehgibihty 
of  that  arrangement,  resisted  the  transfer,  and  sus- 
tained a  long  siege  within  this  castle.  Meantime 
his  son,  Alister  Bane,  a  young  man  of  extraordinaiy 
enterprise  and  courage,  preserved  the  famishing 
garrison  alive,  by  seizing  opportunities  occasionally 
to  throw  in  sacks  of  oatmeal  across  a  deep  fissure  in 
the  rocks  which  we  were  shown.  The  enemy  vainly 
endeavoured  to  detect  the  place  of  his  concealment, 
until  they  brought  a  bloodhound  to  the  spot,  which 
tracked  him  through  the  woods.  Here  we  traced 
every  step  of  the  ravine  ourselves,  till  we  reached 


172  DUXPHAir,. 

the  fatal  cave  where  he  was  overtaken,  the  entrance 
being  no  larger  than  that  of  a  dog  kennel,  and  there 
his  enemies  lighted  a  fire  that  he  might  be  smoked 
to  death.  The  young  hero,  seeing  his  fate  inevita- 
ble, attempted  to  come  forth,  saying,  "  Let  me  out 
to  die  like  a  Camming,  sword  in  hand !"  But  Lord 
Randolph  cruelly  thrust  him  back,  and  replied, "  No ! 
die  like  a  wolf  as  you  are !" 

The  head  of  Alister  Bane  was  cut  off,  and  car- 
ried to  a  rock  opposite,  where  old  Gumming  stood, 
expecting  the  arrival  of  his  son  with  provisions,  and 
there  the  enemy  threw  it  at  his  feet,  calling  out,  in 
an  insulting  tone,  "  Here's  beef  for  your  bannocks !" 
The  wretched  father  recognised  his  son,  and  ex- 
claimed, in  an  agony  of  rage  and  grief,  "  This  is  a 
bone  to  pick  that  you  shall  rue !"  Discouraged, 
however,  and  subdued  by  so  frightful  a  calamity,  the 
old  man  struggled  no  longer,  but  yielded  to  his 
fate,  and  was  put  to  death,  with  his  forty  faithful 
clansmen.  Their  heads  were  stuck  up  in  terror  em 
at  Elgin,  and  their  mutilated  bodies  thrust  into  a 
cairn  near  the  spot  where  they  fell,  which  was 
shown  ever  afterwards  as  "  the  tomb  of  the  headless 
Cummings."  A  few  years  since,  the  parish  clergy- 
man caused  the  skeletons  to  be  dug  up,  and  carefully 
buried  in  a  distant  church-yard,  at  the  risk  of  des- 
troying the  evidence  of  this  melancholy  tale.  Not 
a  single  skull  was  found  on  that  occasion,  and  I  am 


DUNPHAIL.  173 

always  glad  when  proof  can  be  brought,  that  tradi- 
tion really  has  spoken  the  truth,  though  I  cannot 
but  wish  that  the  massacred  clan  had  remonstrated 
as  successfully  with  their  murderers,  as  the  Baron  of 
Leys,  "  My  head  is  a  thing  I  cannot  well  want." 

It  is  curious,  that  after  a  lapse  of  five  hundred 
years,  this  beautiful  estate  has  again  returned  to  the 
rightful  clan,  while  the  names  of  both  contending 
parties  are  now  united  in  the  present  proprietor, 
Mr.  Gumming  Bruce. 

The  same  glen  at  Dunphail  became  afterwards 
celebrated  as  the  refuge  of  a  daring  robber,  whose 
well  selected  abode,  in  the  cleft  of  the  rock,  we  in- 
spected ;  and  this  valley  is  now  inhabited  by  a 
couple  of  white  fairies,  who  glide  gracefully  about 
at  night  among  the  plantations,  and  the  belief  of 
their  existence  diffused  around  the  neighbourhood 
is  more  effectual  than  either  man-traps  or  spring- 
guns  for  keeping  off  poachers. 

Strangers  in  this  neighbourhood  may  be  some- 
times perplexed  to  hear  how  familiarly  the  inhabi- 
tants talk  of  what  happened  to  themselves  "  before 
and  after  the  flood  !"  not  perhaps  recollecting  the 
extraordinary  inundations  in  Morayshire  eleven 
years  ago,  when  houses,  bridges,  castles,  villages, 
and  inhabitants  were  all  nearly  swept  from  their 
foundations,  and  involved  in  one  common  ruin. 
Many  people  wish  to  be  en\4ed  for  their  good  for- 
15* 


174  DUNPHAIL. 

tune,  but  if  that  be  out  of  the  question,  then  the  next 
pleasure  in  hfe  is  to  excite  very  great  pity,  and  for 
that  purpose  a  calamity  like  this  ought  to  be  made 
the  most  of.  Sir  Thomas  Dick  Lauder's  volume  did 
wonders,  and  really  plunged  me  into  a  perfect  cold 
bath  when  I  read  it ;  but  he  has  got  into  consider- 
able disgrace  with  one  family,  for  having  rather 
spitefully  under-stated  their  losses,  and  though  he 
nearly  drowned  them  all,  it  is  by  no  means  consid- 
ered satisfactory. 

The  scene  at  Dunphail  on  this  occasion  was  de- 
scribed to  me  as  being  like  a  great  shipwreck.  The 
tumultuous  Divie  rushing  like  a  wall  of  water  down 
the  glen,  and  sweeping  away  in  its  mad  career 
bridges,  mills,  trees,  cattle,  and  cottages,  to  the 
value  of  .£5000.  The  very  house  itself  was  besieg- 
ed by  the  raging  stream,  and  though  its  foundation 
is  high  and  rocky,  the  inhabitants  were  advised  to 
hasten  out  for  safety,  which  they  all  did  with  the 
exception  of  a  Highland  dairy-maid,  who  insisted 
with  great  courage  on  remaining,  because  it  is  con- 
sidered "  unlucky"  to  desert  a  house  entirely.  No 
persuasion  could  induce  her  to  move,  so  she  was 
forcibly  ejected,  and  the  proprietor  himself  remained 
alone,  to  garrison  the  w^alls  and  to  watch  over  the 
fate  of  his  beautiful  residence.  The  water  rose 
higher  and  higher,  the  night  had  closed  in  darkness, 
and  the  rock  was  crumbling  fast  away  to  within  a 


BALGOWNIE.  175 

few  feet  of  the  corner  wall,  when  suddenly  a  distant 
bank  broke  dow^n  on  an  opposite  side  of  the  stream, 
the  current  was  thus  unexpectedly  drained  off,  and 
the  half-drowned  house  has  now  been  restored  by 
the  Humane  Society  to  all  its  former  life  and  love- 
liness. At  Ballindalloch,  on  the  confluence  of  the 
Avon  and  Spey,  Sir  George  Macpherson  Grant 
found  a  carpet  of  gravel  laid  down  in  his  dining- 
room,  and  Spey  salmon  actually  swimming  about 
alive  in  the  kitchen  !  In  one  village  all  the  inhabi- 
tants had  to  save  themselves  on  rafts,  and  in  many 
farms  the  soil  and  crops  sailed  away,  like  floating 
islands,  to  the  ocean,  which  also  received  on  that 
day  a  valuable  and  unexpected  cargo  of  hay-ricks, 
sheep,  chairs,  eight-day  clocks,  tables,  and  every 
variety  of  household  furniture,  moveables  and  fix- 
tures. Nothing  was  half  so  remarkable  in  this  ex- 
traordinary calamity,  as  the  courageous  activity  with 
which  the  bold  Highlanders  met  their  misfortune, 
testifying  a  heroic  degree  of  Christian  resignation 
amidst  unexpected  ruin,  and  even  in  some  affecting 
instances  encountering  death  itself.  One  poor  man 
risked  his  life  to  regain  his  spectacles,  "because 
without  them  he  could  not  read  his  Bible !"  The 
brave  old  bridge  of  Balgownie,  on  the  Don,  five 
hundred  years  old,  put  all  younger  structures  to 
shame,  being  almost  the  only  one  that  withstood  the 
shock.     It  was  built  by  Bishop  Elphinstone,  and 


176  BALGOWNIE. 

endowed  with  a  benefaction  of  £2  per  annum, 
w^hich  has  accumulated,  under  the  trusty  manage- 
ment of  the  good  magistrates  at  Aberdeen,  to  no 
less  a  sura  than  .£8000.  I  wish  they  would  take 
your  affairs  and  mine  in  trust  also !  It  is  a  curious 
Highland  superstition,  that  friends  or  lovers  who 
part  on  a  bridge  never  meet  again !  If  my  letter 
were  to  stop  on  the  bridge  of  Balgownie  you  would 
probably  never  hear  from  me  more,  so  I  must  add 
one  little  appendix  to  this  subject. 

The  former  proprietor  of  Reluglas  wishing  very 
naturally  to  commemorate  the  wonderful  height  to 
which  the  Findhorn  and  Divie  then  rose,  placed  a 
stone  at  the  proper  place,  with  an  inscription  to  tes- 
tify that  there  the  two  streams  actually  met,  but  a 
mischievous  traveller  lately  rooted  up  the  stone  and 
carried  it  to  a  perfectly  incredible  eminence,  where 
it  now  stands  gravely  informing  us  that  here  is  the 
level  to  which  the  water  rose.  I  make  a  point  of 
beheving  every  thing,  but  was  certainly  rather  as- 
tonished how  a  living  being  had  escaped !  Since 
then,  however,  that  difficulty  has  been  solved  on  the 
best  authority,  and  the  stone  turns  out  to  be  some- 
what of  the  nature  of  a  tomb  stone,  which  is  apt  to 
exaggerate. 

People  who  journalize  their  travels  generally 
become  unsupportably  dull,  by  attempting  the  sub- 
lime, but  I  have  rather  kept  to  the  ridiculous  on 


BALGOWNIE.  177 

this  occasion,  though  with  a  more  ambitious  pen 
the  Morayshire  floods  could  have  been  worked  up 
to  a  perfect  Niagara.  Pray  consider  yourself  as 
owing  a  \'isit  to  this  neighbourhood  until  you  have 
paid  one,  which  will  not  be  your  last  or  only  de- 
scent on  a  county  so  truly  interesting,  with  its  proud- 
looking  castles,  its  cottages  of  gentility,  and  all  the 
triumphs  of  nature  and  of  art,  with  which  it  is 
adorned.  As  the  old  song  says,  "  I'll  make  you  be 
fain  to  follow  me  !" 


CASTLE   GRANT 


There  needs  na'  be  sae  great  a  phrase 
Wi'  droning  dull  Italian  lays  : 
I  wad  na  gi'e  our  ain  strathspeys 

For  half  a  hundred  score  o'  'em. 

Burns. 

My  dear  Cousin, — Your  life  seems  as  uniform 
at  present  as  the  pendulum  of  a  clock,  but  from 
your  description  it  must  be  nearly  as  useful.  In  fact, 
without  meaning  to  be  vain,  I  am  like  the  minute 
hand,  making  a  complete  circle,  during  the  time 
you  take  to  revolve  an  inch  or  two,  though  the 
chief  interest  of  my  movements  arises  from  knowing 
that  you  are  behind  the  scenes  to  partake  of  them. 

We  this  day  diverged  twenty  miles  off  our  road, 
to  inspect  that  strange  old  place,  Castle  Grant,  be- 
longing to  the  Earl  of  Seafield ;  a  prodigious  chief- 
tain-like edifice,  surrounded  by  grim-looking  moun- 
tains, and  grim-looking  fir  trees,  and  filled  with 
grim-looking  ancestors.  Truly  as  "  the  dark  build- 
ing o'er  the  valley  frown'd,"  it  looked  like  the 
stronghold  of  some  great  freebooter,  which  you 
might  feel  terrified  to  approach  after  dark.  Mrs. 
Radcliffe  would  have  been  quite  at  home  here,  and 


CASTLE    GRANT.  179 

I  could  wi'ite  a  melo-drama  myself  on  the  spot; 
— "  Enter     Rudolpho,    cautiously,    with  pistols — 

Hark! P^ now  fancy  the   rest,  one  or  two 

murders,  an  apparition,  plenty  of  poison,  and  sev- 
eral executions. 

We  were  hurrying  along  the  high-road  to  take 
a  glance  at  this  ancient  fossil  of  a  castle,  when  a 
respectable  looking  old  man  stopped  us,  touched 
his  bonnet   with    a   soldier-like    air,    and   said   to 

A ,  in  a  most  deferential  manner,  "  Would  you 

be  offended,  sir,  if  I  were  speaking  to  you  ?" 

We  both  looked  extremely  encouraging,  so  he 
added  in  a  still  more  earnest  voice,  "  I  have  served 
in  the  four  quarters  of  the  globe,  sir  !  at  St.  Helena, 
St.  Jago,  South  America,  Corunna,  and  the  West 
Indies !" 

My  purse  now  began  to  quiver  in  my  reticule, 
thinking  of  course  this  was  a  case  of  begging,  and 
I  even  settled  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  get  off 
respectably  under  a  shilling,  when  he  added,  "  I 
was  wishing  to  ask  a  small  favour  of  you,  sir !  my 
cottage  is  only  a  step  off.  If  you  and  the  lady  will 
come  in  to  take  a  taste  of  whiskey  and  a  biscuit, 
that  would  be  a  great  honour  to  the  like  of  me.  No 
offence,  sir,  but  it  is  our  way  in  the  Highlands !" 

We  thanked  him  cordially,  though  I  could  not 
resist  a  gentle  hint  against  what  the  Highlanders 
call  "  a  spark  of  whiskey,"  adding  a  short  panegy- 


180  CASTLE    GRANT. 

lie  on  teetotalism,  but  he  said  in  reply,  "  It  would 
be  a  disgrace  to  any  Macintosh,  ma'am,  who  could 
not  take  a  glass  or  two  without  being  the  worse." 
I  suppose  he  was  like  the  witness  in  court,  who 
said  he  had  never  seen  his  friend  the  worse  of  drink, 
but  often  the  better  of  it.  You  have  heard  of  the 
M.  P.  who,  some  years  ago,  inadvertently  astonished 
the  House  of  Commons,  by  beginning  his  speech 
against  the  flogging  of  soldiers  for  intoxication,  by 

saying,  "  Mr.  Speaker ! you  get  drunk, I 

get  drunk, we  all  get  drunk  !" ^ 

The  cottage  pointed  out  by  our  old  soldier  was 
very  neat,  but  by  no  means  so  near  as  he  hospitably 
w^ished  us  to  think,  therefore,  with  a  civil  apology, 
on  account  of  being  limited  in  our  allowance  of  time, 
W'C  politely  suggested  that  he  might  accompany  us 
along  the  approach  to  show  the  way,  w^hich  he 
very  obligingly  did,  and  moreover  pointed  out  some 
of  the  battle-fields  and  hills,  which  otherwise  we 
should  not  have  discovered.  That  of  Cromdale  in- 
terested us  especially,  where  the  cause  of  James  II. 
received  its  final  blow  in  Scotland,  and  the  old  sol- 
dier informed  us,  that  there  the  bones  had  lately 
been  dug  up  of  "  a  person  of  respectabilit}\"  How 
the  deceased's  respectability  had  been  ascertained 
we  did  not  hear. 

A was  so  much  pleased  by  the  communi- 
cativeness and  simplicity  of  our  military  volunteer, 


CASTLE    GRANT.  181 

that  when  taking  leave  he  offered  him  a  handsome 
donation,  but  the  old  soldier  drew  back,  and  actually 
swore  a  solemn  oath  on  the  spot,  that  nothing  could 
induce  him  to  accept  it,  not  being  apparently  of  so 
persuadable  a  nature  on  this  score  as  the  pew-opener 
at  your  church,  w^ho  is  forbid  to  accept  any  douceur 
from  strangers,  but  always  whispers  w^hen  declining 
it,  that  they  may  place  what  they  please  under  the 
seat,  where  she  will  find  it  next  morning. 

What  prodigious  entertainment  travellers  lose, 
who  do  not  converse  frankly  and  kindly  with  the 
country  people !  Our  old  cicerone  seemed  as  fond 
of  Castle  Grant  as  if  it  had  been  his  own,  and  said 
with  a  look  of  delighted  anticipation,  "  You'll  see 
some  things  to-day,  ma'am,  that  you  little  expect ! 
The  armory  is  a  grand  place !  you'll  be  surprised ! !" 

In  the  approach,  we  were  stopped  by  a  poor 
maniac,  who  fancies  herself  owner  of  this  property, 
and  walked  with  great  dignity,  holding  up  her  drag- 
gled petticoats,  and  calling  herself"  Lady  Watson !" 
After  a  short  parley,  she  condescended  to  let  us 
proceed ;  and  I  could  not  but  think  how  fortunate 
it  is,  when  madness  is  not  of  a  melancholy  kind,  for 
this  pitiable  being  enjoyed  a  sort  of  happiness  nearly 
allied  to  that  of  persons  who  habitually  build  castles 
in  the  air,  but  while  we  are  deeply  responsible  for 
any  such  voluntary  waste  of  intellect.  Lady  Watson 
may  continue  blamelessly  to  enjoy  her  imaginary 
16 


182  CASTLE    GRANT. 

consequence,  and  to  confer  her  imaginary  favours, 
unless  it  be  true,  as  a  French  author  once  main- 
tained, that  men  are  answerable  even  for  any  sin 
they  may  fancy  themselves  committing  in  a  dream. 

An  American  would  say,  that  we  could  not 
easily  "  ditto"  Castle  Grant !  I  have  seldom  seen  a 
more  striking  coup  d^oeil  than  this  very  stern-looking 
old  place,  though  the  ancient  towers  have  been 
cruelly  injured  by  a  modern  addition,  like  a  cotton 
manufactory,  the  blame  of  which  lies  upon  Adams. 
The  venerable  antique  tower,  rising  118  steps  from 
the  ground,  looks  down  with  solemn  contempt  on 
this  vulgar  excrescence,  and  seems  heartily  ashamed 
of  the  connection. 

We  laboriously  ascended,  to  enjoy  from  our 
usual  station  on  the  roof,  a  grand  wild  view  of  the 
Grant  country,  Cairngorum  studded  with  snow,  the 
frowning  heights  of  Ben  Nevis,  challenging  the  very 
clouds,  and  endless  plantations  of  sombre  fir-trees, 
so  close  and  thick,  they  seemed  as  if  we  might  walk 
on  their  tops.  I  have  a  hearty  respect  for  those 
primitive  old  forests  which  planted  and  raised  them- 
selves from  nothing ! 

The  furniture  here,  which  I  expected  to  find 
almost  coeval  with  the  forests,  is,  on  the  contrary, 
quite  gay  and  modern;  chairs  which  run  so  lightly 
along  the  floor,  they  might  be  entered  for  the  St. 
Leger,   and  sofas  in  the  very  newest  extreme  of 


CASTLE   GRANT.  183 

luxury  and  taste.  The  ancestors  Here  are  worth 
traveUing  any  distance  to  visit.  In  this  very  long 
line,  it  is  amusing  to  trace  a  family  likeness  among 
so  many  successive  generations,  all  remarkably 
handsome,  while  we  perceived  a  gradual  moderni- 
zing of  dress  and  attitude.  None  were  so  beautiful, 
however,  as  the  young  heiress  of  Rossdhu,  Miss 
Colquhoun,  painted  by  Ramsay,  in  a  rich  white 
satin  dress,  and  carrying  a  wreath  of  flowers.  She 
was  forcibly  carried  off  by  a  second  son  of  this  fa- 
mily, who  proved,  when  on  trial  for  the  offence,  that 
the  lady  sat  in  front  on  the  horse,  and  must  there- 
fore have  run  off  with  him  !  This  plea  being  con- 
sidered satisfactory,  the  gentleman  was  acquitted, 
and  became  afterwards  laird  of  Grant,  on  which  his 
second  son  succeeded  to  the  beautiful  and  extensive 
domain  of  Rossdhu  on  Loch  Lomond.  We  saw 
here  a  miniature  portrait  including  the  three  indi- 
viduals who  descended  from  that  marriage.  Sir  Lu- 
dovic  Grant,  Sir  James  Colquhoun,  and  Colonel 
Colquhoun,  all  dressed  exceedingly  fine,  and  looking 
very  much  bored,  as  if  they  were  listening  to  some 
very  prosing  talker. 

Here  we  beheld  about  the  twentieth  copy  I  have 
observed  in  Morayshire  of  the  same  painting.  At 
Brodie,  Gordon  Castle,  Dunphail,  Altyre,  Castle 
Grant,  and  probably  every  other  house  I  did  not 
visit,  there  is  a  picture  of  the  Sybil,  which,  as  you 


184  CASTLE   GRANT. 

were  once  in  this  county,  you  must  of  course  recol- 
lect, with  a  pen  in  her  hand,  a  turban  on  her  head, 
and  her  eyes  turned  up  to  the  ceiling,  exactly  as  we 
all  do,  when  much  at  a  loss  for  an  idea. 

The  Seafield  family  attached  themselves  appa- 
rently, in  a  most  amiable  degree,  to  every  person  in 
the  remotest  manner  connected  with  them,  and  here 
we  saw  five  or  six  portraits,  in  full  clerical  costume, 
of  the  various  clergymen  they  were  accustomed  to 
hear,  the  family  piper  full-length,  and  even  the  old 
hen-wife  in  a  kit-kat!  Nothing,  however,  in  the 
way  of  painting,  ever  amused  me  so  much,  as  the 
good  humoured  whim  of  an  old  Laird  of  Grant,  who 
brought  to  the  castle  an  artist  named  Waitt,  and 
caused  about  thirty  portraits  to  be  done,  exhibiting 
the  formidable  likeness  of  each  gentleman  belonging 
to  his  clan.  It  was  a  fine,  chieftain-like  idea,  and 
has  been  most  comically  executed !  You  never  saw 
so  fierce  looking  a  collection !  The  Kings  of  Scot- 
land at  Holyrood  are  nothing  to  it !  ! 

If  any  family  of  Grant  wishes  for  an  ancestor, 
he  has  only  to  come  here  and  make  a  choice  ! 
A took  down  a  memorandum  of  all  their  ex- 
traordinary designations,  but  I  only  remember  Grant 
of  Ballindalloch,  and  Grant  of  Tullochgorum,  well 
known  for  the  reel  which  goes  by  his  name,  and 
even  now  he  looks  quite  ready  to  start  from  his 
frame,  and  set  off  to  the  piper  opposite.     In  the 


GRANTOWN.  185 

centre  of  all,  hangs  the  patriarch  of  the  clan,  exhi- 
biting a  most  venerable  aspect,  and  wearing  a  pro- 
fusion of  gray  hair,  like  white  cotton.  Unluckily 
there  are  no  Mrs.  Grants  !  I  should  have  liked 
beyond  measure  to  see  the  ladies  who  matched 
such  gentlemen !  the  power  of  painting  could  no 
farther  go  ! 

An  old  Laird  of  Grant  formerly  despatched  one 
of  his  clan  to  the  Earl  of  Findlater  w^ith  a  present 
of  chickens  and  venison,  but  the  Highlander  not 
being  a  good  linguist,  delivered  his  message  in  a 
most  deferential  manner  as  follows : — "  The  Laird 
o'  Grant's  compliments  to  the  Laird  o'  Fin-laater, 
and  sends  him  sickness  and  vengeance.  If  he 
wants  more  he  can  have  them !"  The  two 
neighbouring  families  of  Findlater,  or  Fin-de-la« 
ten-e,  and  Grant,  are  now  merged  into  one,  under 
the  more  modern  title  of  the  Earl  of  Seafield. 

Grantown  is  the  most  perfectly  Highland  village 
I  have  seen.  Here  the  men  all  sport  their  clan  tar- 
tans and  kilts,  while  the  young  women  wear  a 
graceful  plaid,  and  the  snood  in  their  hair,  looking 
all  neat,  clean,  and  cheerful,  "  contented  wi*  little, 
and  cantie  wi'  mair."  Our  old  soldier  spoke  in 
raptures  of  the  chief's  family,  saying,  "  they  never 
wish  to  change  tenants,  and  we  never  wish  to  change 
landlords."  Undoubtedly  it  might  surprise  a  stran- 
ger, seeing  no  great  manufactories  in  the  village, 
16* 


186  BALVENY   CASTLE. 

to  observe,  nevertheless,  an  appearance  of  almost 
unaccountable  prosperity.  The  granite  houses,  so 
nearly  similar  in  age  and  size,  they  seem  all  to  have 
been  built  at  once,  the  streets  spacious,  and  every 
thing  denoting  comfort  and  competence  ;  but  when 
we  heard  how  liberally  and  judiciously  the  very 
poorest  tenants  on  this  estate  are  attended  to  and 
watched  over,  my  perplexity  on  this  subject  was 
ended,  and  I  could  wonder  no  longer,  that  the  good 
old  times  are  still  extant  here,  of  boundless  attach- 
ment to  the  "  reigning  family." 

We  ought  certainly  now  to  have  danced  down 
the  glen  of  Strathspey,  for  we  proceeded  through 
that  charming  valley,  passing  many  fine  seats  in  the 
Grant  country,  among  which  Ballindalloch,  belong- 
ing to  Sir  George  Macpherson  Grant,  is  one  of  the 
most  ancient  and  beautiful,  finely  situated,  richly 
wooded,  and  exhibiting  that  air  of  indescribable 
cheerfulness  and  good  order,  which  testifies  the  care 
of  a  resident  proprietor. 

Balveny  Castle  is  a  considerable  ruin  which  be- 
longed to  a  celebrated  heiress,  "  The  fair  maid  of 
Galloway,"  who  succeeded  the  Earls  of  Douglas, 
and  Dukes  of  Touraine,  by  the  cruel  slaughter  of 
her  two  young  brothers,  whom  the  Chancellor 
Crichton,  without  pity  for  their  youth,  the  eldest 
being  only  eighteen,  or  any  scruple  on  account  of 
having  promised  them  protection,  treacherously  in- 


GLENLR'ET.  187 

velgled  into  Edinbui'gh  Castle,  and  beheaded.  The 
young  lady  first  bestowed  herself  and  castle  on  the 
Earl  of  Douglas,  her  cousin,  whom  King  James  the 
Second  stabbed  in  Stirling  Castle,  when  he  arrived 
there  by  invitation,  bringing  with  him  a  safe  con- 
duct under  the  great  seal.  The  disconsolate  wddow 
next  married,  by  special  dispensation,  the  brother 
and  successor  of  her  husband,  who  was  forfeited 
soon  after,  and  fled  to  England ;  but  not  wishing 
to  share  his  fortunes — or  misfortunes — she  got  her 
second  marriage  annulled,  and  his  Majesty  gave  her 
in  marriage  to  his  own  half-brother,  the  Earl  of 
Atholl,  who  probably  rebuilt  the  Castle  of  Belveny, 
as  the  motto  which  he  adopted  is  carved  in  immense 
letters  over  the  massy  iron  gate.  When  King  James 
the  Second  sent  Lord  Atholl  against  Macdonald, 
Earl  of  Ross,  his  parting  benediction  was  given  in 
these  few  words,  which  have  ever  since  continued 
to  be  the  family  motto,  "  Forth  fortune,  and  fill  the 
fetters !" 

The  estate  of  Balveny  escaped  after  all,  however, 
from  the  descendants  of  this  frequently  married 
heiress,  and  went,  by  some  odd  mischance,  to  her 
husband's  son  by  a  subsequent  marriage,  and  after 
remaining  w^ith  the  Earls  of  Atholl  during  five  gene- 
rations, and  meeting  with  various  other  vicissitudes, 
now  belongs  to  the  Earl  of  Fife. 

A  few  miles  above  Ballindalloch  is  the  vale  of 


188  GLENLIVET. 

Glenlivet,  famous  in  modern  times  for  its  whiskey, 
and  in  ancient  times  for  its  battle,  generally  known 
as  the  battle  of  Balrinnes,  where  the  young  Earl  of 
Argyll,  though  only  in  his  eighteenth  year,  acted  as 
generalissimo  for  the  king,  commanding  an  army  of 
12,000  men,  which  was  defeated  by  Lord  Huntly  at 
the  head  of  300  horse.  In  those  days,  every  com- 
mander carried  a  witch,  or  a  professor  of  second- 
sight  with  him,  as  regularly  as  his  ADC,  and  Argyll 
had  been  promised  that,  on  the  day  after  this  battle, 
his  harp  should  be  played  in  Buchan,  and  the  bag- 
pipe at  Huntly's  chief  seat  in  Strathbogie,  which 
prediction  w^as  certainly  fulfilled  to  the  ear,  though 
not  exactly  as  Argyll  expected,  for  the  notes  were 
not  those  of  triumph,  and  he  was  not  there  to  enjoy 
the  sound,  having  retreated  to  a  distant  refuge. 

A  little  farther  up  is  the  late  Duke  of  Gordon's 
delightful  shooting  lodge  of  Glenfiddich,  the  w^ell 
known  head-quarters  for  deer-stalking.  The  late 
floods  have  rendered  it  almost  unapproachable  for 
the  last  three  miles,  as  the  road  has  been  washed 
away,  and  the  river  must  be  forded  eleven  or  twelve 
times  to  reach  the  spot,  but  it  is  thought  that  the 
present  noble  proprietor  prefers  encountering  these 
difficulties  himself,  rather  than  throw  this  preseiTe 
more  open  to  idle  tourists,  like  ourselves,  who 
"  frighten  the  deer,"  as  it  was  objected  to  steam- 
boats on  the  Thames  that  they  "  frightened  the  fish." 


ELCHIES.  189 

Between  Elgin  and  its  flourishing  port  Burgh- 
head,  stands  the  large  baronial  house  of  Gordonston, 
well  wooded,  but  otherwise  in  a  featureless  flat.  It 
is  a  plain,  square,  town-like  pile,  now  beginning  to 
show  symptoms  of  disconsolate  neglect,  since  the 
Gordon  baronets  failed,  and  it  fell  to  the  Gumming 
family,  who  possess  the  far  more  captivating  resi- 
dence of  Altyre,  in  the  same  county.  Within  this 
house  is  a  subterranean  cell,  in  which  a  peeress  was 
formerly  imprisoned  by  Sir  Robert  Gordon,  that  she 
might  be  induced  to  surrender  her  patrimonial  rights, 
but  the  lady  held  out  with  great  spirit,  and  w^as  at 
last  liberated  triumphantly.  This  family  of  Gordon 
were  all  so  clever,  that  they  gained  the  reputation 
of  being,  in  several  instances,  wizards,  and  the  prac- 
tice of  witchcraft  was  kept  up  in  Morayshire  longer 
than  in  any  other  part  of  Scotland.  Sir  Robert 
Gordon,  being  the  premier  Baronet  of  Scotland,  was 
very  jealous  on  the  score  of  precedency,  and  having 
met  once  at  dinner  a  neighbour  recently  promoted  to 
an  Irish  peerage,  who  was  smilingly  taking  his 
place  first  in  the  procession  down  stairs,  the  tall, 
gaunt  Sir  Robert  stalked  hastily  after  his  Lordship, 
grasped  his  shoulder,  and  twirling  him  round,  an- 
grily exclaimed,  "  Na  !  na  !  my  Lord  !  ye  maun 
gang  to  Ireland  for  that !" 

Near  Elgin  we  passed  the  estate  of  Elchies, 
from  which  one  of  our  Scotch  judges  formerly  took 


190  ELGIN. 

his  title.  Nothing  perplexes  English  strangers  more 
in  Scotland,  than  our  bishops  without  mitres,  and 
lords  without  coronets.  I  remember  seeing  a  great 
genealogist,  who  met  one  of  our  fifteen  judges  at 
dinner,  suffering  agonies  of  perplexity  on  hearing  a 
frequently  repeated  title,  the  date  and  patent  of 
w^hich  he  could  not  call  to  mind,  till  at  last  he  turned 
anxiously  to  Lord ,  who  had  observed  his  em- 
barrassment, and  said,  in  allusion  to  the  number  of 
peers  elected  to  Parliament,  "  Might  I  ask,  my  Lord, 
if  you  are  one  of  the  sixteen  ?"  "  No,"  replied  his 
Lordship  with  grave  dignity,  "  I  am  one  of  the  fif- 
teen !"  The  strangest  choice  of  a  designation  I 
ever  knew,  was  made  by  one  of  our  judges,  who 
called  himself  "  Lord  Unthank  !" 

Elgin  is  a  beautifully  varied  little  city  of  eccen- 
tric old  houses,  and  charming  new  streets,  built  of  a 
stone  which  surpasses  all  praise,  being  exactly  of 
the  hue  that  Cheltenham  wishes  to  appear,  a  pale, 
delicate,  nankeen  colour,  and  the  longer  it  is  exposed 
the  harder  it  becomes.  This  is  more  particularly  to 
be  admired  in  the  grand  old  ruinous  cathedral,  com- 
monly known  as  "  the  Lantern  of  the  North,"  which 
looks  so  perfectly  imtarnished  by  time,  that  it  seems 
more  like  a  building  about  to  be  finished,  than  an 
aged  veteran,  whose  work  is  done.  The  Bishop's 
house,  too,  a  few  yards  off,  has  considerable  remains 
of  grandeur.     I  was  recently  amused  to  hear,  that 


ELGIN.  191 

the  late  Lord  Dalhousie,  not  being  able  at  once  to 
understand  the  difference  between  St.  Peter's  and 
the  Vatican,  a  friend  made  it  plain  by  saying, "  Why, 
my  Lord,  only  recollect  that  St.  Peter's  is  the  kirk, 
and  the  Vatican  the  manse." 

At  Elgin  cathedral,  the  celebrated  carvings  have 
edges  as  sharp  and  distinct  as  the  day  they  were 
chiselled,  and  nothing  in  sculpture  can  be  more 
beautiful  than  the  arched  door  of  entrance,  with  eight 
fine  pillars,  surmounted  by  WTeaths  of  roses  in  full 
relief  The  octagon  chapter-house  is  also  orna- 
mented on  the  roof  with  a  perfect  garden  of  flow^ers 
turned  into  stone. 

The  old  guide  here,  a  well  known  character,  is 
commonly  called  "The  Bishop  of  Moray."  His 
enthusiasm  respecting  this  noble  specimen  of  sacred 
architecture  renders  him  a  desirable  cicerone  through 
the  old  walls,  which  are  in  fully  better  repair  than 
himself,  as  he  can  scarcely  totter  along.  The  old 
man  leaning  on  his  oaken  staff,  feels  an  honest  pride 
in  boasting  of  the  diligence  with  which  he  has 
cleaned  and  arranged  the  ruins,  since  he  was  ap- 
pointed guardian,  and  he  signalized  his  reign  by 
moving  away  2866  carts  of  rubbish,  which  had  ac- 
cumulated in  the  lapse  of  ages,  concealing  some  of 
the  steps,  and  several  prostrate  fragments  of  beauti- 
ful workmanship.  Here  "  men  of  marble  piecemeal 
melt  away,"  and  our  guide  has  composed  a  laugh- 


192  ELGIN    CATHEDRAL. 

able  medley  of  the  broken  and  mutilated  statues, 
which  he  arranged  in  groups  according  to  his  own 
fancy,  putting  noses  on  wherever  they  were  want- 
ing, and  placing  heads  upon  bodies  for  which  they 
were  never  intended.  The  party  which  he  particularly 
piqued  himself  upon,  consisted  of  a  face  with  an  ex- 
pression of  suffering,  which  he  called  Dives,  a  good- 
humoured  complacent-looking  head  near,  represent- 
ed Lazarus,  and  he  had  found  a  colossal  dog's  head, 
which  w^as  supposed  to  be  licking  the  sores.  A 
scolding  physiognomy,  which  he  discovered  beneath 
a  mountain  of  rubbish,  he  has  stuck  up  on  a  tower 
opposite  to  another  representing  the  celebrated  Wolf 
of  Badenoch,  who  once  did  penance  here,  standing 
barefoot  at  the  great  gate,  and  who  not  only  robbed 
and  massacred  this  noble  edifice,  but  finally  set  it  on 
fire.  John  Knox  generally  gets  the  blame  wherever 
we  see  a  roofless  church,  but  you  must  acquit  him 
on  this  occasion,  as  he  can  prove  an  alibi j  not  having 
yet  been  born.  The  old  guide  informed  me  that 
there  were  on  this  establishment  formerly,  two-and- 
twenty  canons,  which  he  thought  it  necessary  to 
explain  were  not  military  but  ecclesiastical. 

Besides  many  fine  old  tombs  of  bishops  and  war- 
riors now  crumbling  to  dust,  like  those  they  were 
intended  to  commemorate,  we  were  shown  the  coffin 
of  King  Duncan,  but  could  hear  no  account  of  where 
his  bones  had  been  placed.     I  am  told  that,  when 


ELGIN   CATHEDRAL.  193 

the  burying  vault  at  Lord  K 's  was  opened 

some  years  ago,  one  of  the  coffins,  which  had  been 
evidently  burst  open,  was  empty,  and  a  skeleton  lay 
at  some  distance,  leading  to  the  fearful  conjecture, 
that  the  unfortunate  person  had  been  interred  alive. 
At  the  English  burial  vaults  in  Munich,  each  de- 
ceased person  has  a  bell  placed  beside  his  body,  in 
case  he  should  come  alive  again  !  a  most  desirable 
precaution  in  a  sultry  climate,  where  the  funeral 
follows  so  immediately  after  death.  Our  cicerone 
showed  us  where  the  last  two  very  popular  and 
talented  Dukes  of  Gordon  are  interred,  and  his  voice 
faultered  with  emotion  when  he  spoke,  yet  in  any 
less  solemnizing  situation,  you  could  scarcely  have 
resisted  a  smile,  at  the  free  and  easy  tone  with  which 
he  mentioned  them  as  "  my  people,"  generally  com- 
mencing his  stories,  of  which  he  related  many,  by 
saying,  "  The  Duke  and  I  were  talking  here  one 

day" but  he  did  not  get  so  far  as  to  say,  like 

your  friend,  "  I  and  the  Duke  !"  How  astonished 
noblemen  would  sometimes  feel,  if  they  could  sud- 
denly behold  a  collection  of  all  the  intimate  friends 
who  speak  of  them,  in  remote  districts,  with  a  de- 
gree of  famiharity  highly  impressive,  to  country 
cousins  and  provincial  neighbours ;  for  many  aspi- 
ring youths,  who  have  dined  once  in  company  with 
a  man  of  rank,  or  even  passed  hira  on  the  street, 
think  it  incumbent  on  them,  ever  afterwards,  to 
17 


194  '  ELGIN. 

forget  his  title ;  and  if  it  makes  them  happy,  why 
not  ?  One  remarkable  phenomenon  in  the  natural 
history  of  fashionable  life,  which  I  really  do  pique 
myself  upon  having  discovered,  is,  that  any  gentle- 
man who  invariably  gives  an  absent  peer  his  title  in 
mixed  society,  may,  in  all  probability,  have  the  pri- 
vilege of  dispensing  with  it  if  they  actually  meet ; 
but  those  who  un-Lord  a  nobleman  supposed  to  be 
at  a  safe  distance,  are  obliged,  when  by  ill-luck  he 
unexpectedly  appears — if  on  speaking  terms  at  all, 
which  is  improbable — to  make  such  an  expenditure 
of  Lordships  in  his  presence,  as  might  pay  off,  with 
interest,  all  previous  deficiencies.  A  young  lady 
from  the  country,  some  time  ago,  when  taking  a 
romantic  leave  of  a  school  companion,  the  daughter 
of  an  Earl,  exclaimed  in  a  paroxysm  of  affection, 
"  Do  let  us  correspond,  and  may  I  call  you  Fanny  ?" 
To  which  the  particular  friend  replied,  "  Call  me 
what  you  please,  but  spare  me  the  letter-writing  !" 

I  must  conclude  my  long  epistle  with  an  amu- 
sing story  in  the  Scotch  dialect,  which,  though 
known  in  this  neighbourhood,  being  related  of  a 
celebrated  character  who  resided  not  far  off,  may 
probably  be  new  to  you ;  and  even  at  the  worst,  it 
is  one  of  the  very  few  I  could  venture  to  tell  twice, 
therefore,  try  if  you  can  understand  it  without  a 
glossary. 

The  Laird  of  Bonymoon  was  extremely  hospi- 


ELGIN.  195 

table,  but  so  exceedingly  lazy  and  indolent,  that  his 
sisters  could  scarcely  ever  entice  him  from  the  fire- 
side; but  one  morning  they  entreated  him  with 
great  anxiety  to  take  a  ride  for  the  good  of  his  health. 

"  Hoot !"  said  he  angrily,  "  what  should  gar  me 
gang  bumping  on  a  horse,  when  I  can  sit  quietly 
here  wi'  my  glass  o'  toddy !" 

"  But,  brother,"  answered  they,  "  if  anything 
should  ail  you,  what  would  become  of  us  ?  Pray  go 
for  our  sakes." 

"  Weel !  ony  thing  for  a  quiet  life !  I'll  e'en 
tak'  this  weary  ride.  I'm  sure,  I  wish  it  was  o'er ; 
but  mind  !  'gin  I  meet  ony  body  coming  this  way, 
I'll  bring  him  back  to  his  dinner ;  if  no',  may  be  I'll 
dine  with  some  neighbour.    John,  saddle  the  horses." 

Accordingly  off  went  the  laird  on  a  jog-trot 
awkward-looking  horse,  boxing  the  compass  with 
his  head  to  see  if  any  human  being  were  coming  his 
way,  as  a  pretext  for  turning  ;  but  meeting  nobody, 
he  arrived  at  last  near  the  house  of  an  intimate  friend. 

"  Ah,  Bonymoon,  is  this  you  ?  I'm  very  glad 
to  see  you !     What  wind  brought  you  here  ?" 

"  Never  mind  that !  I'm  come  to  dine  wi'  you  ! 
What  ha'  ye  got  ?" 

"A  bubbly  jock  and  a  grilse."* 

"John,  tak'  the  horses!  Aye,  neighbour,  ye 
live  weel !     Is  there  ony  body  wi'  ye  ?" 

♦  Turkey  and  salmon. 


196  ELGIN. 

"  Only  an  English  gentleman." 

In  they  went,  and  the  host  taking  his  stranger 
guest  aside,  whispered,  "  I  think  it  necessary  to  in- 
form you,  that  I  mean  to  play  the  laird  a  trick. 
He  is  said  to  have  neither  taste  nor  smell,  and  I 
wish  to  try  him  with  cherry  brandy  instead  of  port." 

After  dinner,  wine  being  put  on  table,  the  laird 
exclaimed,  "  But  what's  a'  this  !  you've  sent  me  a 
diiferent  bottle  from  your  own !" 

"  This  is  claret,  and  you  like  port." 

"  Aye !  aye !  give  me  nane  o'  ye're  washes.  Gie 
me  something  that'll  take  a  grip  o'  the  stamach." 

He  then  filled  a  bumper  to  the  King.  "  Honest 
man !  I  like  him  weel  aneuch !  Oh !  neighbour,  hae 
ye  muckle  o'  this  wine!  it's  the  best  port  I  ever 
tasted !  oh!  man,  it's  fine !" 

Bumper  after  bumper  was  tossed  down  with  in- 
creasing relish,  till  at  last  the  bottle  was  emptied. 

"  My  guid  friend,"  said  the  laird, "  though  you  hae 
few  o'  thae  bottles,  will  ye  treat  me  to  anither  ?" 

"  Certainly,  Bonymoon !  Sandy !  another  bottle  ! 
be  sure  it  is  the  same." 

The  laird  became  more  and  more  captivated 
with  this  new  vintage  of  port,  but  after  finishing 
the  second  supply,  he  made  an  attempt  to  rise,  say- 
ing, "  Weel,  neighbour !  we've  spent  a  very  pleasant 
evening  thegether,  and  had  a  great  deal  o'  sensible 
conversation." 


ELGIN.  197 

"You're  not  going  already?" 

"  Aye  !  aye  !  the  lasses  at  hame'll  be  wearying." 
Saying  this  he  made  a  second  effort  to  get  up,  but 
stumbled  and  fell  back,  angrily  exclaiming,  "  Hoot ! 
canna'  ye  mak'  the  carpet  straight !  thae  runkles 
might  throw  down  ony  body." 

With  the  help  of  his  obliging  neighbour,  the 
laird  was  mounted  on  horseback,  when  the  Eno-hsh- 
man  anxiously  remonstrated,  saying,  "  Surely  you 
will  not  send  the  gentleman  home  in  such  a  state  ! 
he  will  meet  with  some  accident !" 

"  No  !  no  !  he  is  accustomed  to  it !  only  let  us 
run  up  the  approach,  and  hear  him  pledge  the  gude- 
wife  at  my  lodge  in  a  dram." 

The  two  listeners  arrived  in  time  to  hear  the 
laird  making  many  kind  inquiries  for  a'  the  bairns, 
and  the  dialogue  concluded  by  the  gate-keeper 
saying,  "  It's  an  unco'  raw  night !  your  honour  wad 
na'  be  the  war  o'  a  drap  whiskey  !" 

"  Deed  no,  gudewife  !  The  laird's  port  sits 
unco'  cauld  on  my  stamach.     Fill  it  up !" 

Bonymoon  having  thus  primed  himself,  rode  on 
with  some  spirit,  but  soon  after,  in  crossing  a  small 
stream,  the  laird  vainly  tried  to  balance  himself, 
but  his  head  proved  heaviest,  and  he  slid  down  into 
the  current. 

"  John  !"  said  he,  "  What's  that  I  hear  splashing 
in  the  water  ?" 


198  ELGIN. 

"  I'm  thinking  it's  your  honour,"  answered  John, 
getting  off  his  horse  to  assist  his  master,  who  was 
with  great  ditficulty  remounted,  but  soon  after,  in 
passing  over  a  wide  moor,  a  sudden  gust  of  wind 
carried  away  the  laird's  hat  and  wig,  which  he  or- 
dered John  to  find  immediately. 

"  It's  impossible,  your  honour !  I  might  as  weel 
look  for  a  needle  in  a  haystack !" 

"  Never  mind  that,  John  !  I  winna  stir  without 
my  wig !" 

John  got  down,  grumbling  loudly,  and  groping 
about,  until,  by  good  luck,  he  found  them  both, 
when  the  laird  attempted  to  put  his  wig  on,  but 
having  placed  the  part  that  should  have  been  be- 
hind, in  front,  the  cue  hung  over  his  nose. 

"  Stop,  John  !  this  is  no'  my  wig," 

"  Your  honour  maun  just  be  doing  then,  for 
there's  nae  wail  o'  wigs  here  !"  rephed  John,  coolly 
mounting  his  horse,  and  in  this  plight  the  laird  ar- 
rived at  home,  where  he  staggered  straight  into  the 
drawing-room,  when  his  sisters,  not  at  first  recog- 
nising him,  screamed  aloud  with  alarm. 

"  Hoot !"  said  he,  "  what  are  ye  bawhng  at  ?" 

"  Brother !  is  that  you !"  cried  they  eagerly. 
"  What  in  the  world  has  happened  to  you !  Make 
haste  in  to  the  fire,  and  change  yourself.  Quick  ! 
I'm  sure  it  will  be  long  enough  before  we  again 
recommend  a  ride  for  your  health." 


SPEY  BRIDGE. 


My  dear  Cousin, — To  do  you  justice,  I  scarcely 
know  any  one  who  stands  the  expense  of  postage 
in  a  more  magnanimous  spirit  than  yourself,  and  ac- 
cordingly I  shall  now  put  you  to  the  test.  I  often 
think  no  vice  carries  its  own  punishment  along  with 
it  so  obviously  as  the  love  of  money — it  interferes 
with  every  thing — especially  on  a  journey,  for  there 
can  be  few  greater  annoyances  than  to  be  surrounded 
by  grumbling  post-boys  and  discontented  landladies ; 
besides  which,  it  impedes  all  sociability  with  our 
friends,  all  liberality  to  the  poor,  poisoning  every 
meal  we  sit  down  to,  embittering  sickness  itself  on 
account  of  the  expense,  and  even  diminishing  the 
pleasures  of  a  friendly  correspondence  like  ours  ;  in 
short,  it  meets  you  at  every  corner.  However, 
where  necessary,  I  admire  and  respect  judicious 
economy,  but  there  can  be  no  consolation  for  those 
who  practise  it  in  excess  without  absolute  occasion. 
Those  who  have  a  liberal  spirit  and  a  limited  income 
know,  that  what  they  save  in  one  thing,  will  be 
added  to  their  expenditure  in  something  else  of  more 
absolute  importance,  but  I  cannot  sufficiently  won- 
der at  those  who  make  money  the  end  of  their 


200  SPEY   BRIDGE. 

being,  merely  for  hoarding  sake — merely  that  a 
cipher  may  at  last  be  added  to  their  book  in  the 
bank !  It  seems  to  me  the  most  unaccountable  of 
all  infatuations !  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion, 
after  long  and  careful  observation,  that  the  very 
highest  attainment  of  human  good  sense  is,  to 
proportion  your  expenses,  both  charitable  and  do- 
mestic, precisely  to  your  income ;  for  when  we  see 
that  rich  people  become  almost  invariably  avaricious, 
and  that  when  the  poor  have  little,  they  think  it 
not  worth  hoarding,  and  become  extravagant,  I 
leally  think  a  testimonial  should  be  voted  to  any 
man  who  can  be  proved  to  have  kept  the  balance 
exactly  for  a  certain  number  of  years,  duly  consid- 
ering the  claims  of  his  children,  his  dependents,  his 
religion,  and  even  his  own  comfort.  It  is  a  curious 
phenomenon  how  many  rich  people  wish  to  live  as 
if  they  were  poor,  and  how  many  poor  people  con- 
trive to  live  as  if  they  were  rich  ! 

We  this  day  crossed  Spey  Bridge  without  acci- 
dent or  mishap,  which  is  more  than  the  late  Duke 
of  Gordon  did,  who  was  standing  on  it  during  the 
great  flood,  eleven  years  ago,  when  hearing  a  sudden 
crack,  he  had  barely  time  to  flee,  before,  with  the 
rapidity  of  lightning  and  a  noise  like  thunder,  a 
mass  of  water,  piled  with  full-grown  trees  and  with 
floating  rubbish,  swept  forward  in  irresistible  power, 
and  buried  the  noble  bridge  in  a  dark  and  boiling 


GORDON   CASTLE.  201 

torrent.  His  Grace,  on  that  occasion,  found  his  re- 
treat cut  off  towards  Gordon  Castle,  having  hurriedly 
escaped  to  the  wrong  side  of  the  river,  W'here  he 
was  charitably  fed  and  clothed  during  several  days 
at  Orton,  the  hospitable  residence  of  Mr.  Wharton 
Duff.  A  new  arch  of  wood  has  been  since  built,  a 
single  span,  200  feet  wide,  w^hich  really  makes  a 
tolerably  long  arm  across  the  water. 

We  still  continue  at  full  speed,  hopping  from 
castle  to  castle,  and  from  mountain  to  mountain,  at 
a  rate  that  would  carry  us  very  speedily  round  the 
world.  It  certainly  is  a  great  privilege  to  take 
possession  of  all  these  magnificent  places  for  an 
hour  or  two,  enjoying  the  landscape,  pictures,  and 
furniture  as  if  they  were  our  ow^n,  and  to-day  wx 
made  a  most  agreeable  and  fatiguing  house-tour  in 
Gordon  Castle,  till  my  eyes  became  perfectly  glassy 
with  exhaustion.  I  w^onder  that  people  ever  survive 
seeing  the  Louvre  I  A  week  at  Florence  w^ould 
kill  me  outright. 

Though  the  grounds  of  Inverary,  Blair  Athol, 
and  Hopetoun  House,  are  perhaps  more  exquisitely 
lovely  than  those  of  Gordon  Castle,  yet,  this  seems 
to  be,  on  the  whole,  the  finest  ducal  residence  in 
Scotland.  I  am  told  that  the  largest  mansion  in 
England,  Wentworth  House,  covers  the  eighth  of 
a  mile,  but  this  is  also  of  vast  extent,  being  five 
hundred  and  sixty-eight  feet  long,  and  built  of  the 


202 


GORDON   CASTLE. 


splendid  Elgin  free-stone :  "  A  world  of  a  house  !" 
It  is  curious  that  every  thing  more  magnificent  or 
more  beautiful  than  common,  is  apt  to  make  us 
melancholy  !  Music  or  poetry,  or  even  an  unusually 
generous  action,  bring  tears  starting  to  the  eyes, 
and  I  have  even  know^n  instances  where  the  first 
surprise  of  beholding  a  very  majestic  edifice  has 
produced  this  effect,  and  I  could  perfectly  fancy  it 
arising  in  such  a  scene  as  this.  Probably  the  tears 
we  shed  for  the  moral  sublimity  of  a  fine  action, 
may  partly  be  caused  by  a  transient  sense  of  what 
our  nature  was  originally  before  the  fall. 

The  park  at  Gordon  Castle  is  bounded  only  by 
the  horizon ;  the  trees  are  gigantic,  every  thing,  in 
short,  appears  on  the  grandest  scale,  and  the  great 
antiquity  of  this  ancient  family  adds  interest  and 
dignity  to  all  we  admire.  Every  page  in  the  history 
of  Scotland  seems  mingled  with  the  names  of  Huntly 
and  Gordon,  always  brave,  generous,  and  loyal, — 
the  first  to  take  arms  for  their  king  and  country, 
remaining  always  true  to  the  family  motto,  "  By 
courage  not  by  craft."  They  flourished  and  reigned 
here  since  Robert  Bruce  transplanted  them  from 
Berwickshire,  during  two-and-twenty  generations  ; 
but  this  noble  estate  has  recently  been  divorced  from 
the  title,  and  alienated  from  a  name  so  long  supreme 
among  those  glens  and  hills  of  Strathspey.  Can  it 
be  possible  that  the  long  line  of  Huntly  and  Gordon 


GORDON   CASTLE.  -  203 

has  actually  vanished  from  the  halls  of  their  fathers! 
This  was  indeed  a  nice  little  succession  for  those 
who  have  inherited  it !  In  ancient  days  the  land 
frequently  carried  the  title  along  with  it,  and,  indeed, 
the  time  w^as  once  when  a  Marquis  of  Huntly  might 
have  unfurled  his  standard,  rallied  his  clan  around 
him,  and  bid  defiance  to  an  English  successor,  but 
perhaps  in  these  days  one  could  scarcely  recommend 
such  an  experiment.  It  was  an  old  rule  in  Scottish 
law,  to  claim  all  you  can,  and  you  may  be  certain 
to  get  more  than  you  have  a  right  to. 

One  fine  old  tower  of  the  ancient  castle,  far  sur- 
mounting the  rest,  has  remained  steadfast,  like  a 
monument  of  past  generations,  through  all  the  vicis- 
situdes of  time,  and  still  continues,  greatly  excelling 
the  adjoining  edifice  of  more  recent  date.  When 
I  merely  say  a  building  is  old,  let  that  be  considered 
equivalent  to  a  panegyric,  being,  as  you  know,  so 
fond  of  antiquities  that  I  would  any  day  prefer  a 
Queen  Anne's  farthing  to  a  good  modern  guinea.  I 
only  wished  this  venerable  tower  had  been  roofless, 
because  we  had  so  toilsome  an  ascent  to  the  top, 

where  A should  have  sung  the  popular  song, 

"Sic  a  rinin' up  stairs  !"  We  were  amply  repaid, 
however,  at  last  by  a  view  which  it  would  take  me 
a  folio  volume  to  describe ;  but  never  rest  in  peace 
till  you  have  stood  in  an  ecstasy  of  delight  where 


204  •  GORDON    CASTLE. 

we  did  to-day,  and  astonished  the  very  stars  with 
your  exclamations  of  rapture. 

The  entrance  hall  is  decorated  with  every  des- 
cription of  elegant  lumber,  among  w^hich  w^e  admired 
several  beautiful  busts  and  statues  copied  from  the 
antique,  particularly  the  Apollo  Belvidere  and  the 
Venus  de  Medici,  the  grace  and  expression  of  which 
can  scarcely  be  excelled,  I  should  imagine,  by  their 
great  originals  at  Florence,  which  have  so  long  con- 
tinued to  "  enchant  the  world.'' 

Cosmo,  Duke  of  Gordon,  received  his  not  very 
Highland  name  in  compliment  to  Cosmo,  Duke  of 
Tuscany,  whose  exceedingly  ugly  bust  stands  in  the 
entrance-hall,  and  from  his  foreign  godfather  the 
Duke  seems  to  have  derived  a  truly  Italian  taste  for 
sculpture,  as  the  entrance-hall  w^ould  remind  you  of 
a  marble-cutter's  show-room.  The  stair-carpet  here 
is  of  Gordon  tartan,  dark  green  and  purple,  which 
looks  rather  sombre,  but  is  considered  one  of  our 
handsomest  Highland  plaids.  I  always  feel  soriy 
for  the  family  pictures  in  an  empty  house,  they  look 
so  lonely,  cold,  and  forlorn,  but  here  each  individual 
ancestor  seems  to  have  been  handsome  and  distin- 
guished-looking. In  the  dining-room  hangs  a  com- 
plete wreath  round  the  wall,  representing  Earls, 
Marquisses,  and  Marchionesses  of  Huntly,  all  look- 
ing their  very  best,  as  they  appeared  in  the  olden 


GORDON   CASTLE.  205 

time ;  and  the  worthy  housekeeper  seemed  to  think 
every  grim-looking  personage  on  the  walls  must 
have  possessed  the  same  title,  as  she  created,  with- 
out scruple  or  hesitation,  a  long  succession  of  Mar- 
quisses  on  the  spot. 

The  first  Earl,  who  had  three  wives,  looks  as  if 
he  had  wept  his  eyes  out  for  them  all,  and  the  first 
Marquis  is  a  grand  aristocratic-looking  personage. 
On  his  first  attending  court,  being  censured  for  not 
bowing  when  introduced,  he  proudly  replied,  "  I  am 
accustomed  to  live  in  a  country  where  every  body 
bows  to  me !" 

George,  second  Marquis  of  Huntly,  a  melan- 
choly-looking man,  was  beheaded  for  his  attach- 
ment to  Charles  the  First.  His  two  eldest  sons 
were  considered  the  most  amiable  and  distinguished 
youths  of  their  time,  but  the  first  was  killed  under 
Montrose,  and  his  brother  died  of  grief  for  the  ex- 
ecution of  Charles  the  First.  How  enthusiastic  was 
the  attachment  which  that  monarch  created  ! 

Ladies  were  sometimes  very  strange  beings  long 
ago  !  only  very  long  ago,  not  now, — and  we  looked 
with  some  awe  yet,  at  the  ancient  Countess  of 
Huntly,  who  was  a  most  terrifying  character  in  her 
time.  About  the  year  1590,  during  her  husband's 
absence,  she  received  the  chief  of  Mackintosh  on  an 
embassy  of  peace,  and  angrily  declared,  that  there 
should  be  no  reconciliation  till  his  neck  was  on  the 
18 


206  GORDON   CASTLE. 

block.  The  unwary  visiter  jocularly  laid  his  head 
on  a  table  in  pretended  submission,  seeing  which 
one  of  the  attendants  of  the  Countess  instantly 
grasped  a  carving-knife,  and  severed  it  from  his 
shoulders.  This  unhappy  victim  was  nephew  to  the 
Earl  of  Moray.  His  followers  she  afterwards  im- 
prisoned, and  fed  them  like  swine  out  of  a  trough ; 
but  for  these  cruelties,  and  many  more,  her  title  was 
forfeited,  though  subsequently  restored. 

The  son  of  this  ferocious  lady  being  condemned 
to  death,  she  begged  his  life  in  vain,  and  found  no 
more  mercy  than  she  had  shown.  Being  consid- 
ered the  handsomest  man  of  the  age.  Queen  Mary 
became  accused  of  partiality  to  him,  and  was  forced 
against  her  will  to  witness  his  execution.  Nothing 
in  the  way  of  fortune-telling  could  be  more  curious 
than  that  which  occurred  to  this  Countess's  husband, 
Lord  Huntly,  who  had  been  warned  that  he  should 
certainly  die  at  Corraighie.  The  name  sounded  to 
him  like  Creigh,  a  place  near  Aberdeen,  which  he 
always  afterwards  carefully  avoided,  but  when  dan- 
gerously wounded  at  the  battle  of  Corraighie,  he 
anxiously  inquired  the  name  of  the  place,  on  hear- 
ing which,  he  repeated  it  thrice  before  he  died, 
"  Corraighie  !  Corraighie !  Corraighie !  then  God 
be  merciful  to  me !" 

Two  beautiful  representations  are  extant  here  of 
the  celebrated  Duchess  of  Gordon,  whose  witty  and 


GORDON   CASTLE.  207 

eccentric  sayings  are  the  favourite  theme  of  every 
jest-book.  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  had  the  honour  of 
having  executed  the  very  lovely  one  we  first  ob- 
served, with  the  finest  eyes  that  ever  lighted  up  a 
face,  but  the  portrait  was  not  at  all  characteristic, 
being  drawn  with  that  pensive,  languid,  not-partic- 
ularly-clever expression  observable  in  most  of  the 
female  portraits  by  that  artist.  The  other,  by  An- 
gelica KaufFman,  had  so  noble  an  aspect,  that  I 
should  feel  proud  only  to  be  the  nail  that  it  was 
hung  upon.  Her  Grace's  countenance  appeared 
radiant  with  all  that  spirit  and  vivacity  for  which 
she  was  long  distinguished,  while  you  could  per- 
fectly imagine  her  uttering  some  startling  and  pi- 
quant hon  mot,  such  as  those  with  which  she  fre- 
quently enlivened  the  dullest  society.  There  are 
persons  who  seem  formed  for  the  situations  they 
occupy,  and  when  I  remember  Jane  Duchess  of 
Gordon's  queen-like  majesty  of  appearance  and 
commanding  manner,  it  seems  as  if  by  nature  she 
could  never  have  been  otherwise  than  the  leading 
person  in  every  circle,  even  without  the  adventitious 
aid  of  her  exalted  rank. 

Her  Grace,  when  dying,  desired  to  be  buried  at 
her  own  favourite  and  romantic  residence,  Kinrara, 
on  the  Spey.  She  ordered  that  for  her  epitaph  the 
names  and  titles  of  all  her  daughters  should  be  en- 
graved on  the  tombstone,  where  I  am  told  they  may 


208  GORDON   CASTLE. 

now  be  read  at  full  length.  Among'  the  number 
are  included  three  Duchesses  and  a  Marchioness. 
Certainly  no  one  ever  played  more  successfully  at 
the  game  of"  catch  honours." 

The  Duke,  her  husband,  lived  to  the  age  of 
eighty-four,  and  is  represented  in  every  stage  of  ex- 
istence, from  childhood  to  the  most  advanced  period 
of  life.  It  w^ould  have  been  amusing  to  arrange 
the  whole  series  close  together !  He  is  exhibited 
first  on  the  staircase,  when  two  years  old,  as  Cupid, 
equipped  with  wings  and  a  quiver;  but  to  these 
customary  decorations  a  light  tartan  scarf  is  super- 
added, while  the  mischievous  little  sprite  looks 
highly  entertained  at  his  extraordinary  transforma- 
tion into  a  Highlander. 

Five  other  portraits  of  his  Grace  hang  else- 
where ;  the  first  painted  at  Rome,  where  he  has 
evidently  returned  from  a  capital  day's  sport,  being 
surrounded  by  tired  looking  dogs  and  dead  game. 
In  another  frame,  he  sports  a  fancy  dress ;  and  this 
likeness  w^as  said  to  have  been  painted  by  Raeburn 
at  the  time  of  his  marriage.  His  Grace  next  looks 
down  from  the  wall  in  his  Lord  Lieutenant's  uniform, 
and  last,  in  extreme  old  age,  with  his  star  and  rib- 
bon, which  I  remember  his  invariably  wearing  in 
the  evenings,  being  of  the  now  exploded  opinion, 
that  such  honourable  decorations  should  occasionally 
be  seen,  and  need  not  be  reserved  only  for  a  corona- 


GORDON   CASTLE.  209 

tion.  The  Duke  was  an  excellent  performer  on 
the  violin,  and  delighted  so  peculiarly  in  Scotch 
music,  that  if  every  one  felt  as  keen  a  national  par- 
tiahty,  the  Italian  Opera-House  would  soon  be 
deserted. 

There  are  three  pictures  at  Gordon  Castle  of 
the  celebrated  Lord  Peterborough,  looking  very 
spirited  and  consequential,  as  if  "  a  thousand  hearts 
w^ere  great  within  his  breast ;"  and  certainly  few 
heroes  have  merited  a  larger  leaf  of  laurel.  As  a 
lady  once  impatiently  remarked  of  her  husband, 
"  cats  have  nine  lives,  but  he  seemed  to  have  ten." 
In  one  of  Lord  Peterborough's  portraits,  he  wears 
a  wig  waving  in  billows  over  his  shoulders,  which 
five  ordinary  heads  of  hair  could  scarcely  have  sup- 
plied. He  would  have  made  an  excellent  frontis- 
piece for  Rowland's  macassar  oil ;  but  in  these  days 
a  wig  must  have  been  almost  as  expensive  as  an 
estate,  when  a  country  girl  received  ^£60  for  her 
ringlets,  and  an  old  woman's  gray  hair  was  sold 
for  £50 ! 

Lord  Peterborough  said,  after  visiting  Fenelon, 
"  If  I  had  stayed  with  him  any  longer,  I  should  have 
become  a  Christian  in  spite  of  myself!"  How  un-^ 
fortunate  for  him  now,  that  he  did  not !  His  cour- 
age in  the  field  was  only  excelled  by  the  firmness 
with  which  he  sustained  the  long  agonies  of  a  pain- 
ful death,  but  his  was  the  stern  endurance  of  a 
IS* 


'210  GORDON   CASTLE. 

Stoic,  not  the  enlightened  resignation  of  a  Christian. 
Even  when  folding  his  mantle  around  him  to  fall 
with  dignity,  he  was  coldly  sarcastic  in  talking  of 
Christianity,  and  merely  said,  that  "  he  made  a 
point  of  being  civil  to  all  religions,"  a  species  of 
compromise  only  too  common  now  !  It  is  curious 
that  Lord  Peterborough's  daughter,  the  Duchess  of 
Gordon,  introduced  the  Protestant  faith  into  this 
family,  previously  bigoted  Roman  Catholics,  but 
being  left  guardian  of  her  son,  while  a  minor,  she 
brought  him  up  in  her  own  creed,  which  was,  for- 
tunately, less  accommodating  than  that  of  her  father. 
When  we  see  a  cold,  hard,  stern,  disposition  like 
his,  united  to  such  great  natural  endowments,  it  re- 
minds me  of  a  frost-bound  garden,  where  no  flowers 
nor  fruit  can  flourish  ;  and  till  the  good  seed  be 
sown,  till  the  dew  fall,  and  the  sun  shine  from 
heaven  upon  the  baiTen  waste,  how  cheerless  and 
desolate  a  sight  it  must  ever  remain  ! 

We  admired  much,  a  very  handsome  portrait,  in 
full  Highland  garb,  of  the  late  very  popular  Duke, — 
the  last  heir  of  his  long  line  !  The  world  has  been 
so  accustomed  for  centuries  to  have  Dukes  of  Gor- 
don successively  appearing,  that  it  seems  quite 
strange  now  without  one !  In  the  same  room  hangs 
a  picture,  such  as  you  seldom  see,  representing  the 
Duke  of  Perth,  so  dignified,  so  animated,  and  so  very 
intellectual  looking,  that  the  whole  expression  was 


GORDON    CASTLE.  211 

in  character  with  the  history  of  one,  who  was  "  as 
brave  as  he  was  bonny."  The  dress  consists  of  a 
graceful  plaid  thrown  over  his  Highland  uniform. 
What  a  misfortune  to  gentlemen  of  taste,  being- 
born  in  the  present  century,  when  their  whole 
genius  must  limit  itself  to  a  blue  coat  and  black 
neckcloth  !  The  worst  portrait  in  this  collection  is 
one  of  George  IV.,  presented  by  his  Majesty  to  the 
late  Duke,  but  it  is  a  most  unworthy  representation 
of  "  the  first  gentleman  in  Europe,"  looking  more 
like  some  country  actor  performing  a  burlesque,  and 
exactly  in  the  attitude  of  Lord  Bateman's  "  proud 
porter." 

We  were  considerably  entertained  by  a  full  length 
portrait  of  James  the  Second's  Queen,  when  in  exile. 
She  is  consoling  herself  by  feeding  a  pet  lamb, 
while  her  crown  is  laid  on  the  ground  in  a  garden, 
her  dog  lies  a  her  feet,  her  flowers  are  scattered 
about,  and  a  book  is  in  her  hand,  so  she  is  apparently 
resolved  to  find  comfort  in  something,  and  her  Ma- 
jesty looks  so  fat  and  good-humoured,  that  the  cares 
of  abdication  have  evidently  sat  very  lightly  on  her 
brow.  She  seemed  by  no  means  in  the  vein  of  ex- 
claiming, like  the  celebrated  John  Home,  when 
vexed  by  some  trifling  disappointment, 

"  Let  petrifaction  stop  this  falling  tear, 
And  fix  my  form  for  ever  marble  here  !" 

A  very  antique  portrait  of  Queen  Mary  is  at 


212  GORDON   CASTLE. 

Gordon  Castle,  said,  of  course,  to  be  original,  and  I 
almost  believe  it.  The  date  is  1568,  the  last  year 
of  her  liberty,  and  it  has  the  brilliant  look  of  health 
and  animation,  which  vanished,  after  every  gay 
vision  of  power  and  glory  had  been  blotted  out  by 
her  tears. 

I  have  no  song  of  youth  and  hope, 

That  does  not  close  in  care ; 

[  have  no  tale  of  woman's  love 

That  ends  not  in  despair  ; 

I  only  breathe  the  name  of  joy 

To  tell  how  soon  it  dies  ; 

I  only  sing  the  songs  that  suit 

Thy  notes,  my  harp  of  sighs. 

In  the  same  collection  is  shown  the  portrait  of 
a  young  beauty,  who  might  certainly  have  rivalled 
Queen  Mary  herself.  She  was  the  favourite  friend 
of  a  former  Duchess,  who  must  have  been  superior 
to  envy  or  jealousy,  but  the  name  of  this  lovely 
vision  is  forgotten  by  our  cicerone,  so  she  must  re- 
main anonymous.  Any  young  lady,  with  one  fea- 
ture of  her  face,  might  set  up  for  a  beauty,  for  they 
are  all  equally  perfect.  The  Magazine  des  Modes 
would  describe  her  dress  as  "  a  robe  of  rich  white 
satin,  a  scarf  of  torquoise  blue,  and  her  chesnuthair 
simply  combed  back  off  her  forehead."  The  lovely 
countenance  was  painted  so  much  to  the  life,  that 
she  seemed  to  blush  when  we  looked  at  her. 

One  of  the  ancient  pictures  in  this  collection 


GORDON   CASTLE.  213 

represents  Herodias  carrying  the  head  of  John  the 
Baptist  in  a  charger;  but  the  artist  has  given 
her  much  too  gentle  and  feminine  an  expression, 
though,  certainly,  the  sweetest  countenances  do 
sometimes  conceal  the  sternest  minds;  and  when 
you  see  a  fixed  unalterable  smile  in  any  face,  with 
a  particularly  subdued  manner,  the  probabilities  are 
ten  to  one  that  this  habitual  aspect  has  been  assumed 
as  a  necessary  veil  to  hide  the  real  temper. 

The  only  cheerful  portrait  of  Charles  the  First, 
that  I  ever  beheld,  is  here!  He  has  undeniably 
relaxed  into  a  smile,  and  looks  as  if  he  might,  occa- 
sionally in  his  life,  have  enjoyed  a  happy  moment. 

Connoiseurs  all  agree  in  saying,  that  the  finest 
painting  in  this  collection  is  that  of  St.  Paul  rebuking 
St.  Peter.  The  colouring  and  expression  are  so 
exceedingly  forcible,  that  I  could  not  get  far  enough 
off  to  catch  the  general  effect  advantageously,  but 
it  looked  too  hard  and  distinct,  having  very  much  the 
effect  of  a  tableau  vivant,  without  the  gauze  curtain. 

I  could  not  but  reflect,  in  looking  around  on 
those  ancient  walls  and  pictures,  what  a  busy 
interesting  world  this  has  been  before  we  entered 
it !  So  many  distinguished  men !  so  many  beau- 
tiful w^omen !  so  many  fine  painters  !  so  many  ven- 
erable books,  in  black  letter,  and  in  white  letter  ! 
so  many  banners  now  idly  waving  over  our  heads, 
and  so  many  broad-swords   rusting  in  their  scab- 


214  GORDON    CASTLE. 

bards,  which  wanted  only  the  heroes  who  wielded 
them,  to  become  as  bright  and  as  powerful  as 
ever !  Ours  is  a  busy  world  still,  but  how  different ! 
What  a  sordid  money-making  activity  bestirs  us 
now !  Men  were  formerly  estimated  according  to 
their  heroism,  their  bodily  strength,  or  their  talents, 
but  now  the  standard  of  every  thing  is  w^ealth — not 
even  the  use  that  is  made  of  it,  but  the  mere  pos- 
session !  We  examined  in  the  armory  Charles  Ed- 
w^ard's  leathern  purse,  with  a  silver  clasp,  which  he 
presented  to  the  then  Duke  of  Gordon.  It  is 
scarcely  more  empty  now,  than  it  w^as  when  he 
owned  it;  but  where  would  any  one  find  in  the 
present  day,  partisans  as  ready  on  a  chivalrous  im- 
pulse to  forfeit  their  wealth  and  estates  !  The  first 
question  now,  preparatory  to  engaging  in  any  new 
undertaking  is,  "  What  per  cent,  will  it  bring  ?" 
Men  are  flocking  to  Australia  for  twenty  per  cent., 
or  to  be  devoured  by  the  cannibals  of  New  Zea- 
land for  thirty,  while  even  sportsmen  no  longer  carry 
their  guns  on  the  moors,  without  an  eye  to  profit, 
but  make  money  by  their  very  amusements.  Many 
become  poulterers  now,  and  sell  the  birds  they  kill, 
or  have  them  potted  for  the  East  Indian  market !  or 
exchange  them  for  shot !  What  old  lady  can  ever 
hope  now,  to  receive  her  annual  box  of  grouse  with 
any  body's  compliments,  when,  as  Dr.  Johnson 
wisely  observes, "  Few  men  give  what  they  can  sell?" 


GORDON   CASTLE.  215 

It  has  been  often  remarked,  that  the  richest  and 
most  extravagant  Enghshmen  generally  turn  ex- 
tremely saving  when  they  enter  Scotland,  probably 
imagining  that  we  are  not  accustomed  to  see  much 
expense ;  but  among  those  who  contract  to  supply 
dealers  with  game  at  so  much  per  head,  from  our 
Highland  moors,  are  found  the  young  heirs  to  some 
of  the  highest  honours  and  most  extensive  proper- 
ties in  the  south.  Grouse  are,  however,  the  uncon- 
scious benefactors  of  Scotland,  by  gathering  the 
best  company  round  them,  as,  without  their  attrac- 
tions, we  should  be  almost  entirely  deserted. 

A  charming  sheltered  garden  lies  close  behind 
Gordon  Castle,  very  tastefully  laid  out,  the  gravel 
walks  meandering  like  a  chain  round  a  brilliant 
patch-w^ork  of  flow^er-beds,  which  are  thus  cut  into 
diagonal  squares,  with  here  and  there  a  morsel  of 
smooth  turf  to  vary  the  colouring.  At  some  distance 
may  be  seen  a  still  more  beautiful  parterre,  which 
has  been  laid  out  in  a  stone  quarry.  The  soil  is,  of 
course,  all  artificial,  but  you  can  imagine  nothing 
more  picturesque  than  the  strange  irregularities  of 
ground.  It  would  almost  weary  you  to  look  at  the 
steep  walks  leading  towards  precipices,  sloping 
banks,  and  shady  recesses,  varied  by  moss-houses, 
stone  basins  hewn  from  the  quarry,  jets  d'eau,  Egyp- 
tian obelisks,  and  a  miniature  Parthenon  carved  in 
the  same  rock  on  which  it  stands.     At  the  gate  are 


216  GORDON   CASTLE. 

placed  some  inimitable  old  sculptured  stones  from 
the  ancient  parish  church  of  Fochabers,  which  be- 
stow a  look  of  great  antiquity  on  the  entrance,  and 
the  w^hole  is  enlivened  by  a  brilliant  profusion  of 
showy  flowers,  and  by  the  most  emerald-coloured 
grass  you  can  fancy.  This  is  a  small  fragment  of 
fairy  land,  wanting  only  the  talking  bird,  the  golden 
water,  and  the  singing  apple.  After  leaving  the 
quarry,  we  entered  a  walk,  shaded  by  enormous 
natural  hollies,  which  must  be  magnificent  when  the 
dark  varnished  leaves  are  enlivened  by  their  scarlet 
berries  like  bunches  of  coral.  Many  are  more  than 
forty  feet  high,  with  stems  five  or  six  feet  in  circum- 
ference, and  some  being  grouped  together  in  clus- 
ters of  a  dozen  large  trunks,  I  almost  mistook  for 
moderate  sized  beeches.  It  is  a  curious  provision  of 
nature  for  the  protection  of  hollies,  that  all  the  lower 
leaves,  within  reach  of  cattle,  are  furnished  with 
strong  prickles  to  serve  as  a  defensive  armour,  but 
the  upper  branches  are  not. 

We  were  misled,  on  many  occasions  to-day,  by 
the  uncommon  size  to  which  several  species  of  trees 
have  enlarged  themselves.  You  were  diverted  for- 
merly, by  the  little  girl  at  her  lessons,  who  said, 
"  How  can  I  make  a  mistake  now,  when  I  am 
four  years  old !"  but  w^e,  at  a  still  more  advanced 
period  of  life,  made  a  few  to-day,  during  our  wan- 
derings through  the  park.     Two  fine  aspen  trees 


GORDON   CASTLE.  217 

passed  themselves  off  upon  me,  at  a  distance,  for  full 
grown  oaks,  till  I  observed  them  in  a  quiver  of  agi- 
tation. Their  stems  were  fourteen  feet  round,  and 
before  severing  into  branches,  the  solid  trunk  rose 
thirteen  feet  high.  The  bark  was  of  so  uniform  a 
tint,  and  the  arch  of  leaves  so  perfect,  that  they 
looked  like  two  pillars  of  Elgin  Cathedral  come  out 
to  take  the  air.  Sir  James  Hall  once  planted  a 
cathedral  of  trees  at  Dunglas,  the  long  aisles  rep- 
resented by  the  tall  white  columns  of  the  poplar 
trees,  the  branches  of  which  formed,  at  one  end,  a 
fine  Gothic  window. 

Near  those  aspens  at  Gordon  Castle,  we  saw  a 
noble  ash  tree,  living  in  a  most  critical  situation. 
The  massy  trunk  had  been  split  from  top  to  bottom 
in  the  late  hurricane,  but  both  halves  were  yet 
standing.  At  every  breeze  they  yawned  asunder, 
and  closed  again,  creaking  and  groaning  in  a  most 
fearful  manner,  as  if  haunted  by  some  troubled 
spirit.  The  leaves  were  still  flourishing  as  gay  as 
ever,  unconscious  of  their  impending  fate,  but  this 
hoary  patriarch  of  the  forest  is  evidently  struggling 
with  a  mortal  wound,  though  we  hurried  to  a  gar- 
dener with  information  of  the  catastrophe,  hoping 
that  an  iron  bandage  might,  for  some  time  longer, 

preserve  it  alive.     When  Lord  S n,  some  years 

ago,   intended   cutting  down   several  ancient   ash 

trees,  a  friend  induced  him  to  grant  them  a  reprieve, 

19 


218  GORDON    CASTLE. 

by  saying,  in  a  tone  of  remonstrance,  "  Surely  you 
will  not  d  sturb  the  ashes  of  your  ancestors !" 

The  chief  ornament  of  this  ducal  park  is  a 
graceful  lime  tree,  beneath  which  stood  the  favour- 
ite seat  of  Duchess  Jane,  when  surrounded  by  her 
chosen  companions.  We  sat  under  the  vast  shadow 
of  this  forest  chief,  surrounded  by  a  wall  of  leaves 
which  swept  to  the  ground  on  every  side,  forming 
an  arbour  of  200  feet  circumference,  and  there  we 
recalled  the  gay  spirits  and  joyous  scenes  which 
once  enlivened  this  solitary  bower.  The  Hama- 
dryad who  presides  here,  must  then  have  enjoyed  a 
merry  time  of  it !  Her  Grace  might  almost  have 
worn  the  bracelet  of  another  equally  celebrated 
Duchess,  who,  rather  whimsically,  desired  this  in- 
scription to  be  set  on  it  in  diamonds,  "  I  shall  never 
lose  my  spirits !"  How  happy  for  those  who  can 
keep  such  a  resolution,  but  the  power  to  do  so  re- 
quires a  more  secure  foundation  than  our  own  most 
resolute  intentions. 

One  of  the  lodges  in  this  park  looks  so  exactly 
as  if  built  of  parliament  cakes,  that  it  has  been 
called  "  The  Parliament  House."  It  is  an  excellent 
imitation  of  a  Jager's  house  in  Switzerland,  and 
produces  a  very  striking  effect  here.  The  old 
gamekeeper  who  kept  it  was  so  eager  for  sport, 
that  the  late  Duke  laughingly  said  to  him  one  day, 
*'  You  would  shoot  your  own  grandfather,  if  he  fell 


GORDON    CASTLE.  219 

in  your  way !"  It  used  to  be  amusing  long  ago, 
before  moors  were  "  let  furnished,"  to  discover  how 
very  little  conception  the  English  had  of  game  being 
ever  preserved  in  the  Highlands,  as  they  fancied  it 
was  only  necessary  to  land  at  Dundee  or  at  Aber- 
deen, and  to  load  their  guns.  A  Scotch  proprietor, 
some  years  ago,  met  a  large  party  going  north,  fully 
equipped  with  guns  and  dogs,  but  could  not  precisely 
ascertain  what  moors  they  had  leave  upon,  till  at  last 
it  came  out,  that  they  were  merely  at  random, "  going 
to  shoot  in  the  north  !"  The  rent  of  a  barren  moor 
is  now  almost  equal  to  that  of  the  best  arable  land ! 

Several  years  since,  an  English  stranger,  who 
had  never  probably  seen  grouse  or  red-deer  even  in 
the  zoological  gardens,  returned  from  an  excellent 
days's  sport,  saying  he  had  shot  eight  head  of  deer ! 
They  all  turned  out  to  be  goats  ! 

I  was  much  amused  to  hear  a  narrow  escape 
made  by  Sheridan  when  he  was  deer-shooting  once 
in  the  north  -,  but  his  ingenuity  was  equal  to  every 
emergency,  and  delivered  him  on  this  occasion. 
The  Duke  of  Atholl  having  furnished  him  with  an 
escort  of  Highlanders,  besides  a  luxurious  and  very 
substantial  luncheon,  he  began  the  day's  sport  by 
sitting  down  to  finish  the  wine  and  refreshments, 
during  which  unusual  commencement  of  the  cam- 
paign, his  companions,  after  consulting  aside  for 
some  time,  came  forward  in  a  body,  and  sternly 
asked   whether    he   were   any  relation   to   "  that 


220  GORDON   CASTLE. 

^vicked  fellow  Sheridan  of  London,  who  had  dared 
to  abuse  Lord  Melville  ?" 

"  What  do  you  take  me  for  ?"  answered  Sheri- 
dan, with  well-feigned  indignation.  "Related  to 
such  a  fellow  as  that !  If  I  could  only  catch  the. 
rascal,  I  would  hang  him  on  the  spot !" 

"  So  should  we,  as  soon  as  look  at  him !"  re- 
plied the  trusty  escort,  confidentially,  and  poor 
Sheridan,  who  frequently  told  the  story  afterwards, 
lost  no  time  in  making  a  pretext  to  hurry  home. 

If  Gordon  Castle  degenerate  into  a  mere  shoot- 
ing box,  it  has  at  least  the  attraction  of  a  splendid 
deer-forest,  which  has  become  a  more  fashionable 
scene  for  sportsmen  now,  than  even  the  moors.  We 
were  shown  the  horns  of  a  red-deer,  shot  by  Alex- 
ander Duke  of  Gordon  after  his  Grace  was  eighty. 
A  circle  of  deer's  heads  is  placed  round  the  room, 
each  carrying  an  inscription  to  commemorate  the 
history  of  his  own  death,  how,  when,  where,  and  by 
whom  he  was  massacred.  Thus  every  skull  be- 
comes in  itself  a  monument  and  an  epitaph ! 

We  ought  to  believe  any  thing  on  sufficient  evi- 
dence, and  the  very  incredible  fact  seems  now  as- 
certained, that  the  deer  eat  their  own  horns !  It 
was  proved  to  the  satisfaction  of  a  learned  jury  once, 
that  a  man  had  bit  off  his  own  nose,  but  this  achieve- 
ment of  the  deer  seems  nearly  as  difficult.  Game- 
keepers, to  whom  the  horns  might  be  a  valuable 
perquisite,  hardly  ever  find  any  stray  antlers  during 


GORDON   CASTLE.  221 

the  season  at  which  they  are  shed,  and  fragments 
have  been  discovered  occasionally  in  the  animal's 
throat  when  dissected.  One  red-deer  was  found 
dead,  having  apparently  committed  suicide,  as  it  was 
choked  by  a  bit  of  its  own  horn.  People  who  bite 
their  nails,  must  have  a  somewhat  similar  propensity ! 

A  lady  remarked  lately,  that  she  felt  thankful  to 
be  born  in  an  age  when  worsted  work  was  in 
fashion,  as  she  never  knew  the  real  happiness  of  hfe 
till  she  tried  it,  but  nothing  shows  more  obviously 
the  tedium  suffered  by  gentlemen  at  home,  than  to 
observe  the  hardships  they  will  gladly  endure  in 
search  of  what  is  called  sport.  A  soldier  would  de- 
serve to  be  covered  with  military  glory  for  encoun- 
tering as  many  privations  and  difficulties  to  defend 
his  country,  as  a  drawing-room  fine  gentleman  will 
cheerfully  welcome  in  pursuit  of  a  single  red-deer. 
He  spends  nights  in  watching  on  the  hills,  days 
standing  up  to  the  knees  in  water,  springs  over  peat- 
bogs, lies  perdu  for  hours  among  the  heather,  crawls 
along  the  bed  of  a  burn,  or  wades  across  a  river, 
reckoning  every  thing  a  pleasure  that  promotes  this 
fascinating  amusement.  A  gentleman,  lately,  ac- 
customed to  all  his  comforts,  gravely  remarked,  after 
a  few  days'  laborious  experience,  "  How  pleasant  it 
was,  to  lie  all  night  under  a  plaid  upon  the  hill-side, 
and  to  hear  the  rain  pattering  around !" 

We  had  rain  "  pattering"  in  abundance  all  the 
19* 


222  GORDON   CASTLE. 

way  from  Gordon  Castle,  for  now  a  ceaseless  busy 
drizzle  began.  The  foliage,  however,  formed  so 
thick  a  canopy  along  the  approach,  that  we  scarcely 
remembered  to  raise  an  umbrella,  though  on  reach- 
ing the  high  road,  it  had  become,  like  the  Nile,  a 
river  of  mud. 

In  passing,  we  made  a  leisurely  survey  of  the 
fruit  and  vegetable  gardens,  containing  six  acres 
within  the  wall ;  and  I  took  a  turn  also  in  the  hot- 
houses, to  remind  myself  of  what  summer  used  to  be, 
when  we  had  warm  weather  occasionally.  Here 
we  saw,  in  the  richest  perfection,  figs,  pines,  gi*apes, 
peaches,  nectarines, — every  thing  in  short,  except 
people  to  eat  them,  and  around  us  were  bowers  of 
blooming  plants, — cactusses  drooping  unnoticed, 
heaths  looking  beautiful  in  vain,  and  roses  of  a  hun- 
dred varieties  "  wasting" ^no  !  that  hackneyed 

quotation  is,  like  many  others,  worn  to  rags,  and 
must  positively  be  left  off.  There  ought  to  be  a  se- 
vere fine  against  every  person  now,  who  "  sits  like 
patience  on  a  monument" — who  "  drags  at  each  re- 
move a  length'ning  chain" — who  "  blushes  unseen" 
— who  "  flies  from  grave  to  gay" — or  who  "  hints 
a  fault  and  hesitates  dislike," — but  I  shall  not  con- 
clude my  letter,  as  you  expect,  by  saying,  that  my 
heart  is  "  untravelled,"  for  with  my  whole  heart  I 
enjoy  travelling,  and  regret  every  mile  we  leave 
behind,  as  if  I  were  losing  an  estate. 


FOCHABERS. 


Lord  Harry  has  written  a  novel — 

A  story  of  elegant  life  ; 
No  stuff  about  love  in  a  hovel, 

No  sketch  of  a  clown  and  his  wife. 
But  full  of  such  elegant  touches  ! 

Our  lips  in  derision  we  curl, 
Unless  we  are  told  how  a  Duchess 

Conversed  with  her  cousin,  the  Earl. 

My  dear  Cousin, — The  unfortunate  man  who 
had  his  choice  of  working  in  the  mines,  or  reading 
through  a  foUo  volume,  preferred  the  bodily  to  the 
mental  labour ;  but  you  shall  herewith  be  con- 
demned unheard  to  endure  several  folio  pages  this 
morning,  and  to  work  out  a  perfect  mine  of  infor- 
mation, therefore,  put  on  your  spectacles  of  criticism, 
and  accompany  me  through  my  hfe  and  adventures 
during  a  long  and  busy  day. 

At  Fochabers,  Murray  the  innkeeper,  w^ho  retired 
from  business  this  year,  was  originally  a  foundung, 
and  never  had  a  guess  of  his  own  history,  but  all  his 
life  he  annually  receives  a  blank  cover  containing 
^50.  Now,  there  is  a  ready  made  novel  for  you  at 
once  !  According  to  all  the  rules  of  romance,  he 
must  some  day  find  himself  out  to  be,  at  least,  a 


224  FOCHABERS. 

peer.  I  wonder  what  titles  and  estates  will  unex- 
pectedly prove  to  be  his. 

The  inhabitants  of  this  little  hamlet  should  all 
become  literary  characters,  seeing,  that  besides  the 
many  academies  already  in  action,  a  native  of  Foch- 
abers, recently  bequeathed  .£20,000  to  establish 
schools  here ;  and  Mr.  Dick  left  so  large  a  fortune 
to  increase  the  salaries  of  schoolmasters  in  the 
counties  of  Aberdeen,  Banff,  and  Elgin,  that  here  the 
alphabet  might  be  printed  in  letters  of  gold.  At  the 
little  inn  of  Grantown,  our  plates  displayed  the 
alphabet  an  inch  long  marked  all  round  the  margins, 
that  travellers  may  lose  no  time  in  exercising  their 
intellects  while  eating ;  and  I  heard  of  lessons  being 
taught  in  poHtics  lately,  by  having  political  senti- 
ments written  in  pastry  across  the  tarts  for  dinner  ; 
but  now,  even  while  washing  and  combing  their 
hair,  children  are  taught  appropriate  verses ;  and 
when  I  hear  a  mob  of  ragged  boys  singing,  "  This 
is  the  way  we  wash  our  face,'*  it  gives  me  pleasure 
to  know  that  the  ceremony  is  ever  performed  at  all. 

Infant  schools  would  be  a  most  beneficial  inven- 
tion for  both  parents  and  children  in  the  lower  ranks, 
even  though  it  involve  the  Spartan  principle  of  a 
separation  between  them,  if  we  could  only  obtain  a 
concession  on  behalf  of  those  very  juvenile  students, 
that  there  shall  be  half  the  quantity  of  lessons  ad- 
ministered, and  double  the  quantity  of  play  allowed. 


FOCHABERS.  225 

The  mechanical,  and  ahnost  regimental  exercises 
which  these  baby  scholars  go  through,  under  the 
misapplied  name  of  amusement,  amount  to  so  strict 
a  restraint  on  mind  and  body,  that  they  should,  in 
fairness,  be  ranked  in  the  class  of  lessons,  because 
nothing  but  perfect  natural  freedom  can  be  a  com- 
plete relaxation  to  children,  and  so  incessant  a  drill- 
ing as  the  little  creatures  undergo  must  prove  mju- 
rious  and  exhausting. 

We  inspected  one  infant  school  near  Fochabers, 
v.'here  ninety-five  children  under  eight  years  old 
were  improving  their  minds.  I  certainly  never  saw 
a  more  beautiful  group  !  Ninety  of  them  at  least 
were  pretty,  while  all,  without  exception,  looked 
clean,  w^ell-dressed,  and  healthy.  The  day  having 
proved  wet,  none  of  them  got  out  to  play,  but  the 
pains-taking  schoolmistress  kept  up,  in  a  close  hot 
room,  a  succession  of  singing,  marching,  and  coun- 
termarching, mechanically,  till  the  whole  juvenile 
party  were  at  last  allowed  to  sit  down,  suffering 
agonies  of  drowsiness.  When  w^e  entered,  three  or 
four  had  fallen  back  on  the  laps  of  those  behind, 
others  required  a  rousing  like  Baron  Trenck,  several 
were  singing,  the  eyes  rolling  in  their  heads,  a  few 
had  made  a  desperate  struggle  and  cried  themselves 
awake,  while  many  approached  as  nearly  to  som- 
nambulism as  Lady  Macbeth.  The  continual  sing- 
ing is  in   itself  somniferous;   a  certain  degree  of 


226  FOCHABERS. 

monotony  becomes  quite  unavoidable  in  the  lessons ; 
and  even  the  clapping  of  hands  and  beating  of  feet, 
though  excellent  as  an  occasional  exercise  for  very- 
young  pupils,  cannot  fairly  come  under  the  desig- 
nation of  play,  which  must  be  the  dictate  of  sponta- 
neous instinct  and  buoyant  natural  spirits. 

It  is  most  true,  as  the  well  known  proverb  says, 
that  "  an  idle  mind  is  Satan's  favourite  workshop," 
and  poor  children,  when  left  at  home  are  lamenta- 
bly neglected,  while  they  cannot  but  thus  acquire 
confused  notions  of  right  and  wrong,  being  more 
punished  by  their  busy  hard-working  parents, 
for  being  merely  troublesome,  than  for  the 
worst  moral  offences,  besides  becoming  hope- 
lessly idle,  ignorant,  and  slovenly,  impeding  the 
labours  of  those  who  support  them,  and  learning 
neither  habits  nor  principles  in  accordance  with  re- 
ligion. During  the  few  years  of  childhood,  there- 
fore, when,  being  too  young  for  any  profitable  la- 
bour, they  might  have  time  to  learn  the  reading  of 
their  Bibles,  it  is  indeed  a  blessing  that  they  have 
the  opportunity  to  acquire  all  such  knowledge  of 
holy  Scripture  as  human  teaching  can  impart ;  and 
certainly  it  has  been  a  useful  discovery  of  modern 
times,  that  when  children  are  taught  to  read,  they 
can  be  taught  also  to  understand  what  they  read, 
therefore,  much  gratitude  is  due  to  those  who,  by 
the  institution  of  infant  schools,  rescue  young  fami- 


FOCHABERS.  227 

lies  from  the  ruin  of  both  body  and  soul,  which 
must,  too  probably,  result  from  the  unavoidable  ne- 
glect which  awaits  them  at  home.  Yet  even  the 
very  best  things  may  be  overdone,  so  that  the 
forced  intellects  and  forced  spirits  of  infants  should 
be  allowed  a  very  large  proportion  of  entire,  uncon- 
strained relaxation,  to  recover  their  natural  tone. 
Before  seven  or  eight  years  old,  the  disposition, 
feelings,  and  principles,  can  successfully  be  regulated, 
but  very  little  knowledge  can  be  safely  instilled  at 
so  feeble  an  age,  without  overstretching  the  facul- 
ties, as  much  as  if  a  tottering  child  attempted  to 
carry  a  burden  intended  for  a  man.  The  heart  is 
capable  of  being  trained  before  the  head,  but  all 
that  can  be  gained  by  unnatural  stimulus  in  unripe 
age,  is  lost  to  mind  and  body  afterwards. 

The  four  elder  children  at  Fochabers  exhibited 
astonishing  powers  of  memory,  and  a  knowledge  of 
the  Bible  which  a  divinity  student  could  scarcely 
excel.  It  was  perfectly  amazing !  No  spectator 
could  have  been  otherwise  than  delighted,  as  w^e 
were,  and  all  I  would  advocate  while  discussing  the 
system  of  early  training  among  poor  children,  is, 
that  for  every  hour  of  lessons,  they  should  be  al- 
lowed an  hour  of  real  undeniable  romping,  and  be- 
come initiated  occasionally  in  the  mysteries  of  hide 
and  seek,  or  blind  man's  buff.  One  of  the  most 
learned  and   accomplished   scholars   I  ever  knew^, 


228  CULLEN   HOUSE. 

used  to  mention  that  he  was  formerly  very  partial 
to  chess,  but  finding  it  more  a  study  than  a  game, 
it  did  not  afford  sufficient  relaxation  to  be  consid- 
ered a  mere  amusement,  nor  was  it  useful  enough  to 
be  followed  as  a  pursuit,  therefore,  he  unwillingly 
relinquished  that  interesting  employment  of  time, 
but  I  saw  him  soon  afterwards  engaged  with  a  joy- 
ous young  party  of  children,  playing  at  battledore 
and  shuttlecock,  which  seemed  thoroughly  to  unbend 
for  the  time,  a  mind  long  and  successfully  exerted 
for  the  best  interests  of  man.  We  are  all  aware 
that,  as  the  bow  requires  to  be  often  unstrung,  the 
more  pliant  it  may  be,  the  more  absolutely  necessary 
that  reaction  becomes. 

Jipropos  of  very  juvenile  precociousness,  I  was 
greatly  diverted  lately  to  read  an  advertisement,  of 
anew  astringent  application  for  the  gums,  beginning, 
"  Children  cutting  their  teeth  are  respectfully  in- 
formed !" 

We  had  a  charming  drive  from  Fochabers  to 
Cullen  House,  one  of  the  most  splendid  places  in 
Scotland,  formerly  the  seat  of  Lord  Findlater's  family, 
as  long  as  there  was  a  Lord  Findlater  to  inherit  it, 
but  now  belonging  to  the  family  of  Grant,  Lord 
Seafield.  It  might  be  exercise  enough  during  winter 
to  walk  every  day  through  all  the  seven  dravnng- 
rooms,  and  to  stir  the  seven  fires  !  You  would  be 
quite  charmed  by  the  magnificent  suite  of  apartments, 


CULLEN    HOUSE.  229 

and  by  the  beautiful  entrance-hall,  decorated  with 
rare  exotics  and  marble  busts,— the  one  being  the 
most  evanescent,  and  the  other  the  most  durable 
ornaments  with  which  w^e  can  adorn  our  abodes. 

There  are  several  battalions  of  pictures  here,  both 
foreign  and  domestic,  many  of  which  are  extremely 
interesting.  In  the  first  room  we  saw  such  a  con- 
gress of  kings,  that  one  would  require  Hume's  His- 
tory of  England  to  bring  them  all  to  mind.  The 
fine  full-length  likeness  of  James  the  Sixth,  by 
Mytens,  encountered  an  odd  adventure  in  its  day, — 
a  riotous  mob,  during  the  revolutionj  t«re  it  down 
from  the  walls  of  Holyrood  House,  and  were  kick- 
ing this  royal  portrait  ignominiously  along  the  street, 
when  Lord  Findlater,  then  Chancellor  of  Scotland, 
made  a  spirited  attack  on  the  angry  multitude,  and 
successfully  rescued  his  Majesty  from  so  degrading 
a  situation. 

The  extinct  line  of  Lords  Findlater  inherited 
great  talents,  and  were  all  considered  supremely 
handsome,  particularly  the  Earl  who  flourished  when 
the  Union  was  signed.  The  portrait  of  him  at  Cul- 
len  House  fully  justifies  his  reputation,  being  of  a 
most  noble  and  commanding  aspect,  very  unlike  the 
flippancy  of  character  he  displayed,  when,  after 
signing  the  roll  which  put  an  end  to  the  indepen- 
dence of  Scotland,  he  coolly  tossed  away  his  pen, 
saying,  "  There  is  the  end  of  an  old  song !" 
20 


230  CULLEN   HOUSE. 

Six  years  afterwards,  however,  Lord  Findlater's 
dormant  patriotism  was  awakened  by  beholding 
various  acts  of  injustice  to  Scotland,  in  consequence 
of  which,  he  tried  to  get  a  new  edition  of  the  old 
song,  having  made  a  motion  in  the  House  of  Lords 
to  dissolve  the  Union ;  and  he  divided  the  votes, 
fifty-four  against  fifty-four,  but  was  ultimately  de- 
feated by  four  proxies. 

Another  Lord  Findlater  we  saw  who  distinguish- 
ed himself  as  an  agriculturalist,  and  introduced  tur- 
nips in  this  neighbourhood,  for  which  he  will  scarcely 
be  thanked  by  the  epicures  in  milk  and  cream.  A 
poor  criminal  was  condemned  to  severe  punishment 
once,  for  stealing  a  turnip,  because,  as  the  judge 
sternly  remarked,  "  turnips  lead  to  legs  of  mutton." 

One  family  portrait  in  this  gallery  is  admirably 
painted,  and  the  hand  has  been  thought  so  perfect 
a  chef  (Tcmvre,  that  an  artist  once  came  from  Italy 
to  study  it.  The  countenance  looks  more  alive 
than  many  living  men !  This  picture  represents 
the  most  accompHshed  and  highly  gifted  of  all  the 
Findlater  family,  who  overstrained  his  great  intellect 
imtil  at  length  he  became  deranged,  and  died  in  the 
most  melancholy  of  all  ways.  His  expression  of 
countenance  looks  excited,  though  indicating  ex- 
treme talent,  and  his  dress  appears  remarkably  pic- 
turesque, but  you  will  not  easily  suppose  it  graceful, 
when  I  mention  that  he  is  equipped  in  a  loose  yel- 


CULLEN   HOUSE.  231 

low  dressing-gown  and  a  white  nightcap !  By  a 
curious  coincidence  I  mistook  his  portrait  for  one  of 
Cowper,  who  serves  as  another  melancholy  evidence 
how  often  "  great  wit  to  madness  nearly  is  alhed." 
The  ladies  in  this  family  seem  all  to  have  been 
less  good-looking  than  their  lords,  arid  if  a  "  Book 
of  Beauty"  had  been  published  in  those  days,  would 
scarcely  have  been  as  well  entitled  to  fill  a  page. 
The  last  Countess  of  Findlater  was  a  foreigner,  and 
became  blind  during  many  of  her  latter  years.  The 
portrait  of  her  predecessor  was  hung  up,  as  a  mark 
of  extraordinary  respect,  in  the  county  rooms  of  Ab- 
erdeen,— a  public  testimony  to  female  excellence 
almost  unprecedented.  When  this  Lady  Findlater 
was  told  that,  owing  to  the  embarrassed  condition 
of  her  husband's  affairs,  the  estate  must  be  sold,  she 
firmly  replied,  "  No  !  not  an  acre  !"  and  by  extra- 
ordinary management  she  saved  the  whole  of  this 
beautiful  property,  besides  which,  she  has  signal- 
ized her  memory  by  leaving  a  magnificent  evidence 
of  her  taste  and  liberality.  The  house  formerly 
stood  in  an  almost  unapproachable  position,  being 
nearly  surrounded  by  a  broad  and  very  deep  chasm, 
the  sides  of  which  were  equally  difficult  to  ascend 
or  to  descend,  and  almost  impossible  for  a  carriage, 
but  Lady  Findlater  erected,  at  the  expense  of  her 
own  privy  purse,  a  noble  bridge  of  one  splendid 
arch,  sixty   feet   high    and  eighty-two  feet  wide, 


232  CULLEN    HOUSE. 

Avhich  springs  across  the  widely  separated  precipi- 
ces, and  forms  a  beautiful  object  from  the  windows, 
as  well  as  a  most  convenient  access. 

The  trees  which  adorn  this  glen  are  particularly 
fine,  and  the  river  scenery  most  enchanting,  with  an 
abundant  flow  of  crisp  clear  water,  and  the  green 
sloping  banks  charmingly  wooded  and  gayly  peo- 
pled by  a  musical  colony  of  birds.  One  great  de- 
light of  the  country  arises  from  the  intimacy  we 
form  with  all  the  animal  species,  which  soon  be- 
come our  familiar  friends  j  cattle,  horses,  dogs, 
sheep,  deer,  cows,  and  every  living  creature,  be- 
come a  source  of  interest,  whose  habits  of  life,  tem- 
per, manner,  and  conduct,  it  is  a  perpetual  amuse- 
ment to  study.  Even  a  bee-hive  is  equal  to  any 
rout  in  a  city,  being  as  crowded,  hot,  and  noisy, 
while  each  individual  carries  a  sting  which  may  or 
may  not  be  used  as  he  pleases.  I  could  sit  for  an 
hour  giving  language  to  their  busy  hum,  or,  hke 
Gil  Bias,  making  dialogues  for  the  birds. 

Over  all  the  windows  of  this  venerable  pile  may 
be  seen  eyebrows  of  handsomely  sculptured  stone, 
with  initials,  dates,  coats  of  arms,  and  grotesque 
heads,  in  addition  to  which,  several  moral  and  re- 
ligious sentences  are  inscribed  in  very  antique  char- 
acters. Two  of  these  which  I  deciphered  contain 
very  sound  divinity,  and  convey  a  pleasing  testimony 
to  the  spirit  of  piety  in  which  this  ancient  house  was 


CULLEN   HOUSE.  233 

originally  founded,  and  for  v/hich,  in  the  existing 
generation,  it  is  still  pre-eminent, — "Faith  is  the 
ground  of  our  hope,"  we  find  engraved  beside  one 
window,  and  near  that  which  adjoins  it,  "  Hope  is 
the  anchor  of  faith." 

Our  drive  towards  Banff  led  through  a  rich 
granary,  where,  not  many  years  ago,  the  whole 
country  was  a  wide  wilderness  of  bog.  Here  the 
poor  can  scarcely  be  called  poor  at  all,  they  are  so 
liberally  attended  to  by  Lord  Fife,  the  chief  proprie- 
tor in  this  neighbourhood,  who  is  said  to  employ 
above  three  hundred  persons  on  the  grounds  of  Duff 
House  alone,  giving  work  to  those  who  will  work, 
and  money  to  those  v/ho  prefer  being  idle.  The 
daily  distribution  which  takes  place  here  of  gold  and 
silver  coin  would  astonish  even  Dr.  Alison,  and  out- 
run his  utmost  wishes,  but  the  system  produces  many 
practical  illustrations  of  that  old  German  proverb, 
"  a  shining  earned  is  worth  tv/o  shillings  begged." 
It  is  a  pleasure,  at  the  same  time,  to  know  that  all 
who  will  obey  the  fourth  commandment,  which  as 
imperatively  orders  people  to  labour  during  six 
days  of  the  week,  as  to  rest  on  the  seventh,  may 
there  find  employment ;  and  I  was  much  amused  to 
hear,  that  when  children  are  at  work  on  the  gravel 
Avalks,  a  shilling  is  frequently  concealed  under  the 
stones,  that  the  first  who  rakes  it  up  may  receive 
this  welcome  j-eward  for  diligence  and  activity. 
20* 


234  BANFF. 

"WTiat  a  curious  contrast  might  be  drawn  be- 
tween the  munificence  of  Lord  Fife,  who  is  said  to 
distribute  a  larger  income  on  gratuitous  charity  than 
any  nobleman  in  Scotland,  and  the  parsimony  of  his 
predecessor.  Lord  Braco,  who  picked  up  a  farthing 
on  his  own  approach  once,  and  being  earnestly  im- 
portuned for  it  by  a  beggar,  hurried  the  treasure  into 
his  pocket,  saying,  "  Fin'  a  farthing  to  yoursell,  puir 
body!"  This  old  nobleman  was  so  celebrated  a 
miser,  that  I  felt  much  inclined  to  sound  the  pannels 
and  floors  at  Duff  House,  in  search  of  hidden  trea- 
sure. 

Several  very  primitive  customs  are  still  observed 
in  this  part  of  the  countr)\  When  farmers  come 
to  market,  they  pay  nothing  at  the  inn  for  being 
lodged  or  entertained,  but  some  time  afterwards, 
"  mine  host"  performs  a  tour  of  visits  among  all 
those  who  favoured  him  with  their  company,  and 
then  he  graciously  accepts  presents,  according  to 
the  wealth  or  the  gratitude  of  his  ci-devant  guests, 
who  load  him  with  hay,  cheese,  butter,  eggs,  or 
poultry,  till,  like  the  lady  in  Roman  history,  he  is 
almost  buried  beneath  the  weight  of  gifts  and  offer- 
ings heaped  upon  him.  A  very  convenient  custom 
is  also  observed  by  poor  people,  when  about  to 
marry  upon  nothing,  who  have  what  is  appropriately 
called  "a  penny  wedding."  The  happy  couple 
call  on  each  of  their  neio^hbours  to  announce  the 


BANFF.  235 

propitious  event,  and  to  inquire  at  the  same  time 
what  the  friends  are  willing  to  subscribe  towards 
increasing  and  prolonging  the  comfort  of  their 
wedded  life.  At  these  marriages  two  hundred  peo- 
ple sometimes  assemble,  w^hile  no  guests  are  ex- 
pected to  appear  without  an  offering  in  some  shape 
or  other,  a  loaf,  a  cheese,  a  bottle  of  whiskey,  or 
even,  in  cases  of  extreme  poverty,  half-a-dozen 
eggs.  The  entertainment  which  ensues  is  kept  up 
occasionally  for  several  days,  and  instead  of  bottle- 
sliders,  on  which  to  pass  the  bottles,  they  are  fre- 
quently placed  on  blue  bonnets. 

Every  mortal  is  weary  of  listening  to  accounts 
of  the  melancholy  festivities  which  take  place  at 
Highland  funerals,  but  I  could  not  help  being 
amused  to  hear,  that  when  three  Strathspey  lairds 
set  out  to  attend  the  burial  of  the  late  Rothiemur- 
chus,  one  of  them  gravely  remarked,  "  How  drunk 
we  shall  all  be  this  time  to-morrow !" 

At  a  great  chieftain's  house  where  guests  used 
formerly  to  be  over  the  mast-head  in  claret  and 
champagne,  but  where  modern  sobriety  and  decorum 
have  been  introduced  by  the  present  proprietor,  an 
old  Highland  laird  was  heard  indignantly  muttering 
to  himself  as  he  left  the  table,  "  Oich  !  if  this  isn't 
the  first  time  she  ever  dined  at  Castle  Grant,  and 
was  able  to  go  up  the  stairs  by  hersell." 

I  was  shocked  to  hear  that  an  old  clergyman, 


236  BANFF. 

well  known  for  his  convivial  propensities,  who  died 
last  year,  wishing  his  funeral  to  become  peculiarly 
jovial,  bequeathed  a  large  stock  of  claret  for  his 
friends  to  finish  on  the  occasion,  and  his  old  boon 
companions  standing  in  a  circle  round  the  grave, 
filled  their  glasses  to  his  memory,  and  afterwards 
poured  a  share  of  the  contents  on  the  earth  beneath 
which  he  was  interred. 

The  neat  and  cheerful  town  of  Banff  is  proverb- 
ially alluded  to  by  the  iScotch  as  Coventry  is  in 
England.  If  one  of  the  common  people  be  angry 
at  another,  he  exclaims  in  a  tone  of  bitterness,  "  Go 
to  Banff!"  I  felt  perfectly  well  satisfied,  however, 
to  visit  this  very  respectable  town,  though  often  ex- 
tremely indignant  formerly,  at  being  told  by  our  old 
nursery-maid  to  go  there.  The  streets  were  clean 
and  airy,  though  not  particularly  remarkable  in  any 
way,  but  probably  the  inhabitants  contrive  to  be 
very  happy  here,  and  if  not,  we  cannot  help  them. 

The  object  of  chief  interest  in  this  neighbour- 
hood is  Duff  House.  The  park  seems  many  miles 
in  circumference,  beyond  which,  we  admired  in 
every  direction  the  fine  fields  brought  into  cultiva- 
tion, and  the  flourishing  hedges  planted  by  Lord 
Fife,  who  has  resided  here  uninterruptedly  for  some 
years  past  in  strict  seclusion,  occupied  in  benefiting 
the  place  and  people  around.  The  style  of  archi- 
tecture here,  is,  like  most  of  Adams's  plans,  quite 


DUFF    HOUSE.  237 

French,  a  tall,  square,  handsome  edifice,  of  massy 
proportions,  ornamented  with  Corinthian  pilasters, 
and  externally  scattered  over  with  stone  vases  and 
statues,  but  the  house  is  greatly  in  want  of  wrings  to 
give  it  lightness.  Within  we  found  it  perfectly 
Louvrized  with  pictures,  all  remarkably  interesting, 
and  many  first  rate  works  of  art,  at  which  criticism 
may  vainly  level  her  eye-glass. 

You  never  saw  walls  so  crowded  as  these  with 
heroes,  statesmen,  authors,  and  beauties  of  former 
days,  every  body,  in  short,  who  ever  lived,  and  a 
great  many  more.  We  might  have  called  over  a 
muster-roll  of  all  the  celebrated  names  in  Scotland, 
or  elsewhere,  and  the  answer  would  be,  "  Here  l" 
It  appeared  like  living  a  century  in  an  hour,  when 
we  paraded  through  ten  or  twelve  large  rooms^ 
glancing  along  the  line  of  celebrated  personages, 
w^hose  names  had  once  resounded  throughout  the 
world.  How  many  stories  and  remembrances  rushed 
into  our  thoughts  as  we  contemplated  the  features 
with  which  they  had  passed  through  life,  and  tried 
to  trace  an  expression  suited  to  their  well-known 
characters  and  adventures.  It  was  a  singular  pano- 
rama !  The  great,  the  good,  the  wicked,  and  the 
profligate,  all  side  by  side  in  a  strange  equality,  that 
seemed  like  that  of  the  grave  itself!  Among  other 
odd  combinations,  we  observed  one  uncongenial 
quartette,    consisting   of  Dr.   Dodd,   Dean    Swift, 


238  DUFF    HOUSE. 

George  Buchanan,  and  lastly,  John  Knox,  of  whom 
the  Regent  Morton  said  in  his  funeral  panegyric, 
"  There  lies  he  who  never  feared  the  face  of  man." 
He  was,  indeed,  one  who,  to  use  the  language  of 
Shakspeare,  "  took  the  buffets  and  rewards  of  for- 
tune with  equal  thanks,"  being  singly  and  solely 
devoted  to  the  cause  he  had  embraced ;  but  in  the 
collision  of  opposite  opinions,  how  carefully  should 
the  very  best  of  Christians  guard  against  excess ! 
Our  venerable  Scottish  reformer  was  far  from  de- 
siring that  wide  devastation  among  our  churches  for 
w^hich  his  own  words  seemed  to  give  a  license, 
when  he  said,  "  Pull  down  the  nests,  and  the  rooks 
will  fly,"  and  for  uttering  which,  Dr.  Johnson  said, 
he  should  have  been  buried  in  the  highway ;  but 
those  who  once  rouse  the  multitude  to  violence, 
might  as  w^ell  throw  down  the  bars  of  a  menagerie, 
and  expect  still  to  master  the  powerful  and  danger- 
ous inhabitants.  In  the  one  case  as  much  as  in  the 
other,  the  weak  govern  the  strong  by  intellectual 
superiority,  but  the  moment  mere  animal  force 
comes  into  play,  this  aspect  of  affairs  is  entirely 
reversed. 

The  old  housekeeper  here,  a  well-known  per- 
sonage, who  has  been  sixty  years  in  office,  having 
learned  by  rote,  a  Hst  of  the  pictures  and  artists, 
makes  most  amusing  havoc  of  the  foreign  names, 
"  Sir  Francis  Kennawlis  for  Knollys,  and  Sir  God- 


DUFF    HOUSE.  239 

frey  Kenna\Yler,"  but  she  was  peculiarly  perplexed 
by  the  approximation  of  names  between  a  fat  laugh- 
ing Moliere,  and  a  dark  Spanish-looking  Murillo. 
The  good  woman  would  have  a  poor  chance  of  tol- 
eration from  the  gentleman  who  broke  off  his  mar- 
riage with  a  young  lady,  because  she  betrayed  such 
ignorance  as  not  to  know  the  difference  between 
Mrs.  Montagu  and  Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montague ! 

One  of  the  best  pictures  here,  a  miniature  in  oil, 
of  a  philosopher  contemplating  a  skull,  was  painted 
by  the  celebrated  blacksmith,  Van  Eyck — not  Han- 
del's harmonious  blacksmith,  but  one  of  still  greater 
notoriety. 

We  admired,  in  one  room,  a  conclave  of  bloom- 
ing beauties,  all  associated  together  without  very 
special  reference  to  rank  or  character,  but  each  ap- 
parently balloted  for  on  the  score  of  pre-eminent 
loveliness.  No  eastern  harem  described  by  Lady 
Mary  Wortley  Montague  could  produce  a  group  of 
Sultanas  at  all  to  be  compared  with  Lucy  Waters, 
Lady  Carlisle,  Jane  Shore,  Lady  Castlemain,  the 
Countess  of  Coventry,  Queen  Mary,  the  Duchess  of 
Portsmouth,  or  Nell  Gwyn — a  pretty  set  in  every 
sense  !  What  some  people  would  call  mixed  soci- 
ety— or  rather  unmixed,  where  none  were  quite 
respectable. 

Ah  !  Shore  could  tell  what  ills  from  beauty  spring, 
And  Sedley  curs'd  the  charms  which  pleased  a  king. 


240  LUFF    HOUSE. 

Several  of  these  ladies  wore  hoops,  expanduig 
their  dresses  till  they  looked  like  a  tent,  covering 
half  an  acre  of  carpet,  but  though  costumes  invented 
by  the  caprice  of  fashion  become,  in  a  few  years, 
ludicrous  even  in  the  eyes  of  those  who  wore  them, 
such  lovely  features,  moulded  into  beauty  by  nature's 
own  magical  touch,  are  admired  alike  in  every  suc- 
ceeding age,  and  in  every  varied  rank. 

One  of  the  most  curious  portraits  here,  is  a  full- 
length  in  black,  representing  the  Duchess  of  Rich- 
mond, by  Vandyke.  Her  Grace  looks  as  if  she  had 
lived  on  nothing  more  solid  all  her  life  than  po- 
etry and  sentiment,  reading  an  elegy  for  breakfast, 
and  a  sonnet  for  dinner.  The  matrimonial  part  of 
her  histoiy  is  much  more  extraordinary  than  fiction  I 
She  married  first  a  wealthy  man  of  low  origin,  who 
very  complaisantly  died  soon,  leaving  her  a  rich 
widow.  Having  been  next  engaged  to  Sir  George 
Rodney,  he  w^as  treacherously  jilted  for  the  Earl  of 
Hertford,  on  which  occasion  her  disappointed  lover 
penned  a  farewell  letter  in  his  own  blood,  and  killed 
himself.  Her  second  husband,  the  Earl,  having  in 
due  time  expired,  she  mounted  another  step  in  the 
ladder  of  preferment  by  marrying  the  Duke  of  Rich- 
mond, and  being  once  more  set  at  liberty,  her  am- 
bition aspired  to  a  crown,  and  she  set  her  widow's 
cap  at  old  King  James  the  I.,  who  actually  proved 
invulnerable,  and  thus  cruelly  stopped  the  career  of 


DUFF   HOUSE.  241 

her  promotion,  when  she  had  probably  often  sohlo- 
quized,  like  Lady  Macbeth,  "  Glamis  and  Cawdor  I 
the  greatest  is  behind  !" 

We  admired  much  a  lovely  picture  of  the  young- 
Chevalier  St.  George  when  a  boy,  dressed  in  crim- 
son and  gold.  The  Chevalier  D'Eon  appeared  also, 
in  full  uniform,  his  face  like  the  knocker  on  a  door; 
and  not  far  off  Colonel  Gardiner,  the  hero  of  Pres- 
tonpans,  a  fine  military-looking  figure  in  full  capar- 
ison for  battle,  wearing  a  pair  of  jack  boots  so 
enormous  that  you  wonder  how^  he  ever  got  into 
them,  or  is  ever  to  get  out.  There  never  died  on 
the  field  of  battle  a  braver  soldier  or  a  better  Chris- 
tian, and  most  heroically  did  he  realize  his  word, 
that "  having  one  life  to  sacrifice  for  the  good  of  his 
country,  he  would  not  spare  it !"  His  own  regi- 
ment fled,  but  he  cheered  on  another  which  had 
been  deprived  of  its  colonel,  and  was  twice  severely 
wounded  before  receiving  the  mortal  blow  of  which 
he  died.  Then  having  finished  his  earthly  duties, 
we  may  believe  and  hope,  that  his  emancipated 
spirit  experienced  the  truth  of  that  faith  in  which 
he  had  a  short  time  previously  said,  "  Let  me  die 
when  it  shall  please  God !  I  am  sure  I  shall  go  to 
the  mansions  of  eternal  glory,  and  enjoy  my  God 
and  my  Redeemer  in  heaven  for  ever." 

A  portrait  is  here  of  George  the  Second,  who 
seems  intending  to  be  dignified,  but  looks  as  if  he 
21 


242  DUFF    HOUSE. 

were  beginning  a  minuet ;  and  the  first  Earl  and 
Countess  of  Fife  are  represented  in  robes  as  if 
walking  at  a  coronation.  The  Admirable  Crichton 
makes  a  noble  appearance  in  the  crowd — that  hero 
possessing  almost  fabulous  gifts  and  accomphsh- 
ments,  who  was  treacherously  assassinated  at  the 
age  of  twenty -two,  by  his  pupil,  the  Duke  of  Medi- 
na's profligate  son.  There  is  a  wonderful  intensity 
of  expression,  like  life  itself,  in  all  the  portraits  of 
this  remarkable  being,  and  his  conversation  was  so 
brilhant  and  captivating  that  people  held  in  their 
breath  when  he  spoke. 

The  Constable  of  Bourbon's  is  an  interesting 
portrait ;  and  Lord  Chesterfield  is  here,  looking 
polite  even  on  canvass. 

If  I  might  assume  the  appearance  of  any  one  I 
chose,  you  would  see  me  return  v^th  the  countenance 
of  Mrs.  Abingdon,  who  is  represented  archly  glancing 
out  from  behind  a  curtain,  with  so  animated  an 
expression,  and  such  a  glow  of  youth  and  loveliness, 
that  it  would  enliven  any  one  to  look  at  her.  Even 
the  great  moralist  Dr.  Johnson  found  this  lady  irre- 
sistibly fascinating,  and  when  rallied  by  a  daring 
friend  for  having  gone  to  the  theatre  once  when  she 
acted,  he  replied,  "  When  the  pubhc  cares  the 
thousandth  part  for  you  that  it  does  for  her,  I  will 
go  to  your  benefit  too  !"  Madame  de  Montespan's 
portrait  might  be  an  imaginary  houri  in  paradise,  it 


DUFF    HOUSE.  243 

is  of  such  unearthly  beauty,  but  without  a  spark  of 
intellect,  and  not  at  all  likely  to  have  captivated 
Lavater. 

Two  peeresses  might  dispute  the  palm  here  of 
personal  pre-eminence.  The  notorious  Duchess  of 
Cleveland,  full  length,  in  blue  velvet,  and  the  late 
Duchess  of  Gordon,  wearing  her  robes  of  state,  and 
looking  like  majesty  personified.  I  could  WTite  on 
for  ever  about  this  gallery,  which  might  comprise  a 
history  of  all  mankind,  and  womankind  also,  but 
you  will  begin  to  complain  that  my  letter  is  all  vel- 
vet gowns  and  damask  curtains. 

"  Lastly,  and  to  conclude,"  as  clergymen  say  in 
their  sermons,  we  observed  a  portrait  in  Raeburn's 
best  style,  of  Lord  Fife  himself,  wearing  his  undress 
military  uniform,  when  he  commanded  the  Inver- 
ness-shire militia,  and  so  like  that  any  old  soldier 
in  passing  must  have  saluted. But  an  extin- 
guisher has  fallen  over  my  paper,  and  it  is  time  to 
cut  myself  short,  though  that  is  scarcely  possible 
now,  after  covering  nearly  a  yard  and  a  half  of  let- 
ter paper.  You  have  seen  the  sympathetic  ink 
w^hich  becomes  visible  only  when  held  to  the  fire, 
but  I  wish  mine  may  disappear  as  soon  as  you  begin 
to  think  me  "  dull,  stale,  flat,  or  unprofitable."  As 
people  say  that  a  letter  should  be  a  sort  of  family 
newspaper,  you  may  now  consider  my  name  as  re- 
corded among  the  fashionable  departures  from  Banff. 


FYVIE 


Now  planning  much,  now  changing  what  we  plann'd, 
Pleased  by  each  trial,  not  by  failures  vexed, 
And  ever  certain  to  succeed  the  next ; 

Gluick  to  resolve,  and  easy  to  persuade . 

Crabbe. 

My  dear  Cousin, — ^If  you  ever  wish  to  study 
"  the  greatest  happiness  principle,"  make  a  tour  in 
the  Highlands,  and  be  not  over  particular  about  ac- 
commodation, for  the  instant  travellers  become  too 
anxious  about  comfort,  all  comfort  is  at  an  end,  and 
I  care  little  for  the  vicissitudes  of  carpets  or  no  car- 
pets, arm-chairs  or  thi^ee-legged  stools,  as  long  as 
every  thing  is  clean,  and  we  get  no  practical  illus- 
trations in  our  sleeping  apartments  of  entomology, 
— or  damp-ologj,  the  greatest  bugbear  of  all  on  a 
journey. 

Without  meaning  a  disrespectful  thought  of  any 
other  county,  I  must  say  there  are  none  superior  to 
Aberdeenshire  for  interest  and  grandeur,  both  natural 
and  architectural.  Fyvie  Castle,  built  in  the  time 
of  Robert  Bruce,  being  considered  one  of  the  most 
extensive,  picturesque,  and  ancient  edifices  in  Scot- 
land, A resolved,  coute  qui  coute,  to   take  a 

glimpse  of  it,  little  anticipating  what  the  cost  would 


FYvre.  245 

be,  for  it  turned  out  an  adventure  of  first  rate  annoy- 
ance and  difficulty,  but  "  all  is  well  that  ends  well." 
A  stage-coach  passes  daily  within  half  a  mile  of 
the  little  village  of  Fp^ie,  about  dinner-time,  so  we 
resolved  to  be  dropped  there  one  morning,  and  to 
be  picked  up  the  next,  thus  allowing  time  to  scruti- 
nize the  Castle  before  proceeding  to  Aberdeen. 

After  making  a  good  start  from  Banff,  there 
came  on  such  a  down-pour  of  rain,  that  it  was  quite 
a  natural  curiosity  for  heaviness,  and  continued  to 
fall  with  unremitting  diligence  till  night.  In  short, 
it  was  what  Matthews  described  as  "  a  dreepin'  wat 
day,"  and  when  we  paused  at  the  turnpike  to  alight, 
I  could  not  but  hesitate  about  being  drowned  alto- 
gether in  attempting  to  gain  a  glimpse  at  Fyvie 
Castle.  The  road  seemed  one  unfathomable  depth 
of  mud,  and  we  had  half  a  mile  to  wade  before 
reaching  the  inn  !  No  rational  being  would  have 
attempted  it,  but  I  had  seen  a  most  eccentric  look- 
ing porter's  lodge,  which  excited  my  unbounded 
curiosity,  as  a  sample  of  what  might  be  seen,  and 
several  persons  strongly  recommended  us  not  to  be 
easily  discouraged,  and  made  light  of  the  distance — 
made  still  lighter  of  the  rain,  and  when  I  inquired 
what  sort  of  inn  we  were  likely  to  find  at  Fyvie,  a 
factor  who  lived  near,  protested  it  was  "  clean  and 
tidy,  though  not  veiy  large."  All  this  sounded  exr 
ceedingly  plausible,  till  I  discovered,  on  alighting, 
21* 


246  FYVIE. 

that  this  personage,  who  had  been  shivering  outside, 
wished  to  fill  up  our  vacant  seats  within,  and  hurried 
off,  wishing  us  "  a  pleasant  evening  !" 

After  a  most   fatiguing  promenade  beneath   a 
perfect  cascade   of  rain,  we  reached  the  village, 
and  looked  about  in  vain  for   any  sign,  or  signs  to 
indicate  the  Royal  Hotel  of  Fyvie.  No  "  Red  Lion," 
or  "Blue  Goat,"   or  "Aberdeen  Arms"  could  be 
seen,  but  I  was  at  last  directed  to  a  small  cottage, 
looking  hke  the  wing  of  an  adjoining  grocer's  shop. 
Here  we  found  the  landlady  drinking  tea,  and  sur- 
rounded by  a  numerous  family  of  untidy  children, 
and  the  whole  party  seemed  to  be  struck  speechless 
with  consternation  at  the  unwonted  apparition  of 
travellers.     Chaucer   tells   us,   the   Queen   of  the 
Fairies  once  positively  promised,  that  no  woman 
should   ever,  on  any  occasion,  be  at  a  loss  for  an 
answer,  but  her  majesty  was  faithless  on  this  occa- 
sion, as  none  seemed  to  suggest  itself  now,  when 
we  requested  the  worthy  hostess  to  provide  us  with 
rooms,  and,  indeed,  the  case  at  first  wore  a  most  un- 
promising aspect.     The  only  suite  of  apartments  in 
her  house  consisted  of  one  sitting-room,  containing 
a  sort  of  contrivance  which  called  itself  a  bed,  and 
across   the   passage   was   a  closet,  about  six  feet 
square,  with   a  borrowed  light,    and  containing   a 
small  sofa-bed,  into  which  a  traveller,  whatever  his 
dimensions  might  be,  must  contrive,  like  a  soldier 


FYVIE.  247 

forcing  on  regimental  shoes,  to  fit  himself,  whether 
they  fit  or  not. 

Even  these  apartments  it  would  have  been  too 
much  happiness  to  find  disengaged,  but  a  stranger 
had  arrived  some  hours  before,  and  secured  the  par- 
lour-of-all-work,  where  he  was  now  drinking  tea  ! 
What  an  idea  of  unspeakable  luxury  and  comfort  it 
gave  me  at  this  moment  to  hear  of  any  one  in  the 
full  enjoyment  of  a  fire  and  a  cup  of  hot  tea  !  I 
never  knew  their  value  before  ! 

You  are  acquainted  with  a  gentleman  w^ho 
locked  his  door,  and  pretended  to  be  asleep  one 
night  at  an  inn,  when  he  saw  a  party  of  ladies 
arrive,  who  could  not,  he  was  aware,  be  accommo- 
dated, and  for  whom  he  had  determined  not  to  dis- 
compose himself,  but  Mr.  Menzies,  the  fortunate 
occupant  of  the  first  and  only  floor  at  Fyvie,  was 
quite  of  a  different  school,  and  having  accidentally 
heard  of  our  arrival,  he,  with  the  most  chivalrous 
politeness,  insisted  on  relinquishing  the  whole  house, 
and  hurried  off  in  the  rain,  saying  he  could  depend 
upon  being  welcome  at  the  clergyman's  hospitable 
manse,  where  he  intended  now  to  remain. 

We  had  scarcely  time  to  express  our  thanks 
before  he  vanished,  leaving  not  a  trace  behind,  and 
w^e  proceeded  without  loss  of  time,  to  examine  into 
the  capabilities  of  the  larder  at  Fyvie,  where  the 
bill  of  fare  for  dinner  being  a  total  blank,  we  found 


248  FYVIE. 

it  would  be  imprudent  to  quarrel  with  our  Lread  and 
butter,  and  sat  down  with  the  best  of  all  appetites 
to  tea.  You  know  of  one  gentleman  who  lets  an 
inn  near  his  moors,  on  condition  that  the  landlord 
shall  make  it  too  uncomfortable  for  any  traveller  cr 
sportsman  to  think  of  remaining  there  ;  and  I  can 
bear  testimony  in  favour  of  the  worthy  host  there, 
that  for  breakfast  we  had  tea  without  cream,  salt 
butter,  oatcakes,  and  porridge,  but  if  there  be  ever 
a  vacancy  in  the  management  of  that  concern,  I 
could  recommend  a  very  efficient  successor  not  a 
hundred  miles  from  Fyvie. 

We  were  in  the  act  of  laughing  over  all  our 
discomforts,  when  the  door  opened,  and  our  good 
genius  Mr.  Menzies  appeared,  accompanied  by  the 
parish  clergyman,  who,  the  moment  he  heard  of  our 
predicament,  had  "  cloaked,  umbrella'd,"  and  hur- 
ried over  to  us  with  so  cordial  an  invitation  to  his 
fireside,  that  before  half  an  hour  elapsed,  we  were 
comfortably  domesticated  with  our  reverend  friend 
and  his  sister,  in  their  pretty  little  sitting-room, 
leaving  to  Mr.  Menzies  the  luxurious  accommoda- 
tion of  the  inn. 

This  evening  passed  away  most  enchantingly, 
though  my  happiness  was  rather  impaired  by  one 
very  teasing  perplexity.  No  imaginable  device 
could  enable  me  to  discover  the  name  of  our  very 
hospitable   host !      I   clandestinely   examined   the 


FYVIE.  249 

title-pages  of  two  Bibles  on  the  table,  thinking  his 
designation  must  be  inscribed  there,  but  the  only 
information  conveyed  I  knew  already,  as  the  inscrip« 
tion  was,  "  Manse  of  Fyvie  !"  The  silver  forks  and 
spoons  at  supper  were  equally  imcommunicative ;  I 
could  not  see  the  cover  of  an  old  letter  in  any  quar- 
ter to  assist  me  I  In  short,  my  ingenuity  was 
balked  on  every  side,  till  next  morning,  when  it  ac- 
cidentally occurred  to  me,  that  I  had  not  yet  exam- 
ined the  corner  of  a  towel,  on  which,  to  my  great 
relief,  I  discovered  the  name  of  our  friend  and  ben- 
efactor, Mr.  Manson,  which  we  shall  certainly  not 
forget,  connected  as  it  is  with  the  recollection  of 
such  a  deliverance,  followed  by  so  agreeable  an 
evening. 

Dr.  Patterson,  author  of  "  The  Manse  Gai^den," 
might  see  his  book  reduced  to  practice  here,  where 
the  flower-beds  are  in  brilliant  order,  and  the  vege- 
tables fit  to  gain  the  prize  at  any  competition.  The 
perfection  of  order  around  this  "  glebe,"  is  said  to 
be  quite  in  harmony  with  the  good  order  of  a  whole 
parish  under  similar  superintendence,  for  in  every 
thing  belonging  to  any  individual,  we  generally 
trace  the  same  spirit  of  activity  or  of  indolence, 
and  I  have  often  observed,  that  as  a  straw  tells  how 
the  wind  blows,  even  the  aspect  of  a  gentleman's 
lodge  may  be  considered  a  tolerably  fair  criterion 
of  how  the  whole  estate  is  managed.     The  concerns 


250  FYVIE. 

of  others  are  not  likely  to  meet  with  the  best  atten- 
tion from  any  one  who  is  lazy  about  his  own,  or 
who  must  use,  on  mere  temporal  affairs,  the  melan- 
choly language  of  Scripture,  "  Mine  own  vineyard 
have  I  not  kept !"  but  in  this  small  district  we  found 
three  schools  in  admirable  order,  which  were  in- 
spected by  Mr.  Menzies,  the  trustee  appointed  to 
examine  the  three  counties  in  which  Mr.  Dick's 
legacy  to  schoolmasters  must  be  distributed,  and 
w^ho  reported  them  all  to  be  extremely  efficient. 

I  crossed  the  village  churchyard,  through  a  wil- 
derness of  wet  grass,  and  sheltered  by  an  umbrella, 
to  visit  the  grave-stone,  adorned  with  hour-glasses 
and  skulls,  of  Annie  Smith,  a  miller's  daughter, 
who  was  heroine  of  that  much  esteemed  old  ballad, 
"  Tifty's  Annie."  This  young  lady,  having  been 
admired  by  the  Laird  of  Fy\de,  who  offered  to  marry 
her,  she  unfortunately  preferred  the  trumpeter  of  the 
Castle,  and  perseveringly  discouraged  his  master's 
suit.  Her  brother,  after  vainly  endeavouring  to  ex- 
tinguish her  disinterested  preference  of  this  long- 
W'inded  lover,  at  last  became  so  furiously  irritated, 
that,  in  a  paroxysm  of  rage,  ke  struck  her  violently. 
The  fair  Annie,  being  of  very  sensitive  feelings, 
never  recovered  the  shock,  but  pined  away  and 
died.  During  her  last  moments,  she  entreated  to  be 
turned  towards  the  tower  of  Fyvie  Castle,  where 
her  favoured  lover  was  usually  to  be  seen  blowing 


FYVIE.  251 

his  trumpet;  and  after  his  decease,  the  generous 
Laird  of  Fyvie  himself  erected  a  leaden  image  of 
his  more  successful  rival,  which  is  now  conspicu- 
ously to  be  seen  blowing  his  trumpet  towards  the 
mill  of  Tifty,  and  thus  commemorating  that  melan- 
choly tragedy.  The  old  ballad  is  extremely  inter- 
esting, and  several  of  the  verses  show  off  the  aris- 
tocratic lover  to  immense  advantage. 

"  Her  father  struck  her  wondrous  sore, 
As  also  did  her  mother  ; 
Her  sisters  always  did  her  scorn ; 
'  Bat  woe  be  to  her  brother. 

Lord  Fyvie  he  did  wring  his  hands, 
Said,  '  Alas  !  for  Tiflie's  Annie,' 
The  fairest  flower's  cut  down  by  love, 
That  e'er  sprung  up  in  Fyvie. 

0  woe  betide  Mill  o'  Tiftie's  pride, 
He  might  hive  let  them  marry  ; 

1  should  have  giv'n  them  both  to  live 
Into  the  lands  of  Fyvie. 

Ye  parents  grave,  who  children  have, 
In  crushing  them  be  canny, 
Lest  when  top  late  you  do  repent, — 
Remember  Tiflie's  Annie," 

In  the  same  churchyard  we  saw  a  beautifully 
sculptured  monument  to  the  Honourable  General 
Gordon,  representing  a  phoenix  rising  out  of  the 
flames,  w^hich  might  have  been  considered  a  fine 


252  FYVIE    CASTLE. 

Christian  emblem,  but  I  was  disappointed  to  observe 
only  an  inscription  from  Ovid  in  Latin.  Our  sym- 
pathy with  the  dead  is  only  perpetuated  w^hen  we 
find  a  record  of  that  Christian  faith  and  hope,  which 
must  ultimately  bring  all  who  really  felt  it,  into  one 
happy  and  everlasting  home,  but  a  heathen  poem, 
beautiful  as  it  may  be,  speaks  of  nothing  beyond  the 
grave,  and  is,  therefore,  unsuitable  on  a  tomb-stone, 
that  solemn  memento,  closing  over  all  the  earthly 
concerns  of  a  mortal  being,  and  intimating,  whether 
in  the  language  of  Scripture  or  not,  that  his  spirit 
has  been  summoned  into  the  awful  presence  of  our 
eternal  Creator. 

Next  morning  we  laid  siege  to  Fyvie  Castle, 
w^hich  looks  like  the  Methuselah  of  old  houses,  and 
ought  to  be  placed  in  the  Antiquarian  Museum. 
The  gate  is  a  perfect  cluster  of  steeples,  and  the 
same  pointed  towers  adorn  the  edifice  itself,  each 
surmounted  on  its  lofty  pinnacle  by  fantastic  leaden 
figures,  placed  in  every  variety  of  attitude.  They 
give  it  somewhat  the  look  of  a  magician's  enchanted 
dwelling,  where  the  prisoners  have  been  turned  into 
stone,  and  I  suppose  any  daring  knight  who  can 
blow  a  blast  on  the  trumpet  of  Tifty's  Annie's  lover, 
will  see  the  whole  crumble  into  powder. 

Large  as  this  magnificent  old  castle  is,  a  perfect 
romance  in  stone  and  mortar,  the  more  ancient  half 
was  taken  down  some  years  ago,  having  become 


FYVIE    CASTLE.  253 

ruinous,  and  threatening  a  downfall.  The  entrance, 
through  a  wall  nine  feet  thick,  is  defended  by  an 
outside  door,  studded  with  massy  knobs  of  iron,  and 
within  that  powerful  defence  stands  a  cross-barred 
gate  of  singular  construction,  so  complicated  in 
workmanship,  that  the  neighbouring  blacksmith  con- 
fessed he  could  not  divine  how  it  was  manufactured. 
We  hazarded  about  six  guesses,  which  were  all  proved 
to  be  wrong  ;  and  as  no  one  living  is  in  the  secret, 
I  "  gave  it  up  I"  In  the  lower  part  of  the  south- 
western tower,  there  is  said  to  be  an  arched  room, 
which,  having  neither  door  nor  window,  is  totally 
inaccessible;  but  under  such  circumstances  there 
can  only  be  a  conjectural  knowledge  of  its  exist- 
tence  at  all. 

What  was  formerly  the  prison  at  Fy  vie  Castle  is 
now  metamorphosed  into  the  wine  cellar,  where 
people  must  be  locked  out,  instead  of  being  locked 
in.  W^e  were  not,  of  course,  made  free  of  the  cellar, 
but  I  became  greatly  interested  in  seeing  the  fire- 
proof charter-room,  quite  an  appalling  dungeon,  en- 
tirely lined  with  iron.  A  second  closet  within  was 
exhibited,  the  iron  door  of  which  requires  the  strength 
of  two  persons  to  open  ;  and  when  the  housekeeper 
desired  me  to  walk  in,  I  thought,  with  a  shudder,  of 
"  The  iron  shroud,"  and  of  "  The  mistletoe  bough." 
If  ever  I  am  afflicted  with  a  nightmare,  I  shall  cer- 
tainly fancy  myself  shut  by  a  spring-lock  in  that  old 
22 


254  FYVIE    CASTLE. 

dungeon  at  Fyvie  Castle  !  Our  cicerone  observed, 
with  some  humour,  in  allusion  to  a  certain  very  re- 
cent robbery,  "  This  is  a  safer  place  than  the  bank 
at  Aberdeen !" 

In  all  my  experience  of  housekeepers,  which  has 
not  been  small,  I  never  met  with  one  so  shrewd  and 
intelligent  as  the  lady  in  waiting  here.  The  Aber- 
deenshire people  are  noted  in  Scotland  for  being 
alarmingly  clever,  very  much  as  the  Yorkshiremen 
are  in  England,  therefore,  I  supposed  at  first,  that 
our  mistress  of  the  ceremonies  might  be  considered, 
perhaps  at  the  ordinary  average  of  Aberdeen  talent ; 
but  we  were  afterwards  told,  that  her  case  is  pecu- 
liar, even  in  that  neighbourhood.  If  ever  we  hur- 
ried past  any  thing  worthy  of  notice,  she  eagerly 
summoned  us  back,  repeatedly  begged  me  to  be 
more  at  leisure,  and  when  I  admired  a  quantity  of 
beautiful  coloured  silk  embroidery,  adorned  with 
flowers,  which  actually  beat  nature  out  and  out, 
done  by  the  Countess  of  Aberdeen,  remarking,  at  the 
same  time,  that  ladies  were  scarcely  so  industrious 
in  the  present  day,  she  complaisantly  replied,  that 
"  ladies  now  have  many  better  occupations." 

When  our  visit  drew  towards  a  close,  the  good 
woman  insisted  beyond  measure,  that  we  should  ac- 
cept a  glass  of  wine  !  A  flight  of  fancy  quite  be- 
yond the  imagination  of  any  ordinary  housekeeper ; 
and  though  we  positively  declined  the  offer,  yet  I 


FYVIE    CASTLE.  255 

very  gladly  availed  myself  of  a  pressing  invitation  to 
inspect  her  own  room.  Here  the  walls  were  hung 
round  with  a  perfect  General  Assembly  of  clergy- 
men, as  large  as  life,  dressed  in  their  full  canonicals, 
and  positively  you  have  often  paid  your  shiUing  for 
seeing  a  worse  exhibition.  It  was  pleasing  to  be- 
hold so  numerous  a  collection  of  Scottish  worthies, 
though  in  general  I  admire  the  principle  expressed 
by  a  Swiss  clergyman,  who  declined  sitting  for  his 
portrait,  even  at  the  earnest  request  of  an  attached 
congregation,  on  the  ground  of  that  text,  "  We 
preach  not  ourselves,  but  Jesus  Christ  the  Lord." 
Owing  to  the  affectionate  partiality  of  many  parish- 
ioners, we  see  in  almost  every  exhibition  of  pictures 
a  large  proportion  of  clergymen, — then  follows  the 
advertisement  of  a  print,  price  £1,  Is. — and  some 
years  afterwards  appears  a  posthumous  memoir  and 
frontispiece,  edited  by  the  son  or  nephew,  who  feels 
called  upon  to  publish  a  "  private  diary,"  professedly 
intended  for  no  eye  but  those  of  the  writer  and  his 
own  children.  It  is"  a  great  pity  that  persons  who 
write  such  very  confidential  documents  never  seem 
to  hit  on  the  only  sure  plan  of  keeping  them  private, 
which  can  be  very  easily  accomplished  by  the  ap- 
plication of  a  taper,  or  by  a  short  cut  into  the  fire- 
place. Nothing  should  be  more  avoided,  by  those 
who  profess  Christian  integrity,  than  to  record 
thoughts   and  actions,  under  pretext  that  they  shall 


256  FYVIE    CASTLE. 

remain  unseen  and  unknown,  when  all  the  time  a 
consciousness  is  felt,  that  the  whole  world  shall 
hereafter  be  invited  to  peep  over  the  author's  shoul- 
der, and  read  what  has  been  said.  The  first  attempt 
wc  find  in  the  line  of  public  privacy,  was  made  by 
Horace  Walpole,  in  his  entertaining  letters,  and 
since  his  time,  those  who  stood  the  very  highest  for 
talent,  and  even  for  piety,  have  not  disdained  to  wear 
the  same  flimsy  veil,  avoiding  the  responsibility  of 
their  own  act,  by  throwing  the  blame  upon  survivors, 
and,  as  Dr.  Johnson  said,  leaving  a  loaded  gun  be- 
hind them,  which  they  have  the  inclination  but  not 
the  courage  to  fire. 

The  broad  fine  staircase  at  Fyvie  Castle  is  con- 
sidered quite  unique,  and  might  be  a  study  for  any 
architect.  It  is  ornamented  with  armorial  bearings, 
and  built  in  a  succession  of  lofty  arches,  all  placed 
at  right  angles,  each  flight  of  steps  forming  an  arch 
over  the  flight  beneath,  so  that  we  seemed  to  be 
ascending  a  pyramid  of  tunnels,  caves,  or  bridges, 
all  carved  in  nearly  solid  stone.  The  effect  is  most 
sin2:ular. 

It  has  been  unhandsomely  alleged,  that  tartan 
was  first  invented  by  the  poor  of  Scotland,  who 
could  find  nothing  but  rags  of  various  colours  to 
clothe  themselves  in  ;  and  it  has  also  been  conjec- 
tured, that  a  clan-tartan  is  like  a  coat  of  arms,  dif- 
ferent colours  being  peculiar  to  different  families,  so 


FYVIE    CASTLE.  257 

that  those  who  were  allied  to  the  Stuarts  adopted 
a  stripe  of  red,  and  when  they  intermarried  with 
the  Bruces,  a  stripe  of  black  w^as  added ;  but  all 
these  assertions  seem  fabulous.  Tartan  is  not  sup- 
posed to  be  a  very  ancient  manufacture,  as  none  is 
to  be  seen  on  the  oldest  pictures.  The  Gordon 
plaid  is  one  of  the  handsomest,  and  makes  admira- 
ble furniture  in  some  of  the  rooms  here,  enlivened 
by  the  family  badge  of  a  thistle  on  every  chair.  I 
like  heraldic  furniture,  wdth  as  many  coronets,  crests, 
andquarterings  as  can  be  reasonably  introduced,  and 
quite  admired  the  King  of  Wirtemberg  for  mount- 
ing regal  crowns  on  his  birds'  cages. 

Every  genuine  Highland  clan  w^ears  some  pe- 
culiar plant  as  a  badge  of  distinction;  and  you 
should  always  see  the  Macdonalds,on  state  occasions, 
mount  a  sprig  of  heather,  the  Macgregors  carrying 
the  pine,  the  Grahams  and  Gordons  with  a  thistle, 
the  Sinclairs  living  upon  clover,  and  the  Buchan- 
ans still  armed  with  a  birch  rod,  which  they  adopt- 
ed, I  suppose,  in  commemoration  of  King  James' 
tutor. 

Fyvie  Castle  changed  proprietors  frequently  in 
former  days.  Originally  the  property  of  Sir  Henry 
Preston,  one  of  the  many  lowlanders  whom  Robert 
Bruce  transplanted  to  this  neighbourhood,  it  after- 
wards escaped  to  the  Meldrum  family,  and  then 
settled  for  some  time  in  possession  of  the  Chancel- 
22* 


£58  FYVIE    CASTLE. 

lor,  Earl  of  Dunfermline,  whose  arms  are  sculptured 
on  the  Castle  in  every  direction,  inside  and  out,  with 
full  length  inscriptions  to  commemorate  his  reign. 
This  estate  was  finally  purchased  by  the  present 
proprietor's  grandfather,  Lord  Aberdeen,  when  he 
married  for  his  second  wife  the  Duke  of  Gordon's 
(laughter,  and  the  property  was  given  to  her  eldest 
son,  General  Gordon,  w^hose  portrait  w^e  greatly 
admired,  being  one  of  the  best  visible  in  this  house, 
or  perhaps  in  any  other.  The  frame  is  hung  round 
'vvith  the  standards  of  his  regiment  festooned  in  loose 
draperies,  which  add  greatly  to  the  effect  of  his 
liandsome  uniform,  and  fine  military  aspect.  He  is 
equipped  in  full  Highland  garb,  his  plaid  streaming 
in  the  wind,  his  cap  raised  in  his  hand,  and  his 
broad-sword  extended  in  the  air.  Nothing  can  be 
more  spirited  and  striking  !  This  fine  picture  seems 
meant  to  illustrate  the  family  motto,  "  Follow  For- 
tune." The  General  has  evidently  kicked  down 
the  Coliseum  in  passing,  for  it  lies  in  ruins  behind 
liim,  and  he  is  rapidly  ascending  over  broken  pillars, 
cornices,  and  columns,  to  where  Fortune  sits  aloft, 
ready  to  crown  him  with  her  choicest  gifts,  among 
which  we  must  acknowledge,  that  Fyvie  Castle  was 
not  the  least  I 

You  w^ould  be  in  ecstasies  w^ith  the  park,  varied 
by  a  river,  a  lake,  a  forest  of  noble  trees,  and  flocks 
of  sheep,  which  seem  to  understand  the  picturesque, 


ABERDEEN.  259 

they  scatter  themselves  so  judiciously  over  the  slo- 
ping banks,  and  in  short,  the  only  fault  that  can  be 
invented  for  this  never-to-be-enough-admired  place 
is,  its  being  so  outrageously  difficult  to  reach. 

During  our  journey  from  F}-A'ie  to  Aberdeen,  we 
saw  several  stony  fields,  most  of  which  have  now 
been  improved  into  fertility,  at  a  vast  expenditure 
of  labour,  while  others  being  perfectly  paved  across, 
no  labour  could  improve.  You  might  fancy  in  some 
parts  of  this  country,  that  it  rained  stones  instead  of 
w^ater  !  and  towards  the  west,  where  rocks  abound 
most,  the  superfluous  stones  are  swallowed  up  in 
what  is  called  an  "  Aberdeenshire  dyke,"  built  about 
six  feet  high,  and  twenty  or  thirty  feet  broad,  fit  for 
a  wagon  to  be  driven  on,  and  looking  as  if  mate- 
rials had  been  collected  for  erecting  a  village. 
The  operation  of  extracting  these  rocks  from  the 
ground,  is  like  drawing  teeth  out  of  their  sockets, 
but  after  inflicting  so  painful  a  process,  the  agricul- 
turist must  have  more  than  common  pleasure,  in 
seeing  the  best  entertainment  for  man  and  horse, 
turnips,  wheat,  oats,  and  barley,  all  flourishing 
around  him. 

In  Aberdeenshire,  the  enthusiasm  lasted  longer 
than  in  any  other  country  for  Charles  Edward's 
family.  The  gardener  at  Lord  Saltoun's  proved  so 
stanch  to  the  cause,  that  when  some  officers  on  the 
Protestant  §ide  were  visiting  his  master,  a  bet  was 


260  ABERDEEN. 

laid  that  nothing  could  induce  him  to  drink  King 
George's  health.  Accordingly  he  was  sent  for,  and 
the  senior  captain  making  him  a  handsome  present, 
said  he  had  heard  much  of  his  high  character,  and 
proposed  that  they  should  unite  in  pledging  a  bum- 
per to  King  George's  health.  The  sturdy  Jacobite 
raised  his  glass  and  drank  it  off,  saying  emphatically, 
'•  Here's  to  our  rio-htfu'  and  lawfu'  Kino^ !"  The 
Captain  started  up  in  a  rage,  saying,  "  Why,  you 
rascal !  that's  not  King  George !"  To  which  the 
other  slyly  replied,  with  a  nod,  "  I'm  vera  muckle 
o'  your  way  o'  thinking.  Sir !" 

Dr.  Johnson  remarks,  "  it  seems  like  frivolous 
ostentation  to  write  a  solemn  geographical  descrip- 
tion of  any  city  in  our  own  island,  as  if  we  had 
been  cast  on  some  newly  discovered  coast."  Here 
we  are  now  at  Aberdeen,  the  Oxford  of  Scotland, 
where,  during  many  centuries  past,  whenever  stran- 
gers pre-eminent  for  rank  or  learning  arrived,  the 
magistrates  called  in  procession,  and  presented  them 
with  a  bumper  of  wine  in  the  ancient  and  illustrious 
"  Cup  of  Bon  Accord,"  but  either  the  custom  is 
now  discontinued,  or  they  have  not  yet  heard  of  our 
arrival ! !  This  town  is  equally  celebrated  for  its 
haddocks  and  its  professors,  both  being  incompara- 
bly excellent  in  their  line,  and  having  long  enjoyed 
great  and  deserved  popularity.  Diplomas  are  not 
given   so   promiscuously   here  as  forrn^erly ;  but  I 


ABERDEEN.  26 1 

once  knew  three  English  schoolmasters  who  had 
been  created  doctors  at  Aberdeen ;  and  Dr.  Johnson 
said  of  one  Scotch  university,  that  it  had  got  rich 
"  by  Degrees."  My  late  father,  who,  besides  re- 
ceiving diplomas  from  twenty-five  foreign  societies, 
was  member  of  almost  every  literary  and  scientific 
institution  at  home,  once  received  a  humorous  letter 
from  his  old  cotemporary,  Sir  Adam  Fergusson, 
directed  to  him  as  usual,  and  then  followed 
"  A.M.— F.R.S.— TUVWXYZ." 

In  the  college  here  may  be  seen  the  most  ter- 
rifying portraits  of  our  106  Scottish  monarchs,  from 
a  period  cotemporary  with  the  time  of  Abraham,  to 
the  present  day,  the  whole  succession  being  painted, 
I  believe,  by  one  artist,  who  should  have  been  hung 
instead  of  his  pictures. 

Mackray's  hotel  would  be  a  perfect  paragon  of 
comfort,  Vvxre  it  not  for  a  set  of  noisy  travellers  re- 
cently arrived,  who  never  tire  of  ringing  the  bells, 
so  we  have  a  merry  peal  from  morning  till  night, 
and  all  night  besides.  Those  who  are  least  accus- 
tomed to  have  servants  at  command,  become  most 
arbitrary  at  an  inn,  and  like  to  agitate  the  waiters, 
who  are  flying  about  the  house  like  lamplighters  to- 
night, and  have  burst  into  our  quiet  room  several 
times  by  mistake  in  the  hurrj'  of  hearing  so  many 
conflicting  bells.  You  have  not  probably  forgotten 
the  old  housekeeper  who  used  to  tell  us  formerly, 


262  ABERDEEN. 

that  she  had  saved  money  all  her  life  in  order  to  be 
a  lady  for  one  week,  and  the  chief  part  of  her  pro- 
jected dignity  seemed  to  consist  in  arriving  at  a 
hotel,  dressed  in  a  silk  gown,  and  in  ringing  for 
the  waiters  as  often  as  she  pleased  !  I  have  never 
since  observed  people  particularly  severe  on  the 
bell-ropes,  without  thinking  that  they  must  have  as 
short  an  allowance  of  consequence  and  authority. 

Being  informed  on  Sunday,  that  Bishop  Skinner 
intended  to  preach  at  the  Episcopal  Chapel,  I  went 
to  hear  him,  but  was  shocked  on  entering,  to  be- 
hold, near  the  door,  a  fine  full-length  monumental 
statue  in  white  marble,  by  Flaxman,  bearing  the 
solemn  inscription,  "  Sacred  to  the  Memory  of 
Bishop  Skinner!"  I  stood  petrified  with  astonish- 
ment at  this  very  sudden  catastrophe  !  How  could 
it  have  escaped  the  waiters,  who  had  all  combined 
in  assuring  me  he  was  to  preach  !  Not  many  min- 
utes afterwards,  however,  a  clergyman,  exactly  re- 
sembling the  marble  image,  stood  face  to  face  before 
it,  gravely  taking  his  station  in  the  reading-desk, 
and  commenced  divine  service,  but  it  was  not  till 
the  whole  had  been  concluded  that  the  mystery  was 
cleared  up.  I  then  ascertained,  that  the  episcopal 
dignity  has  continued  hereditary  in  the  same  family 
for  two  generations,  and  that  the  venerable  father 
of  the  present  Bishop  is  commemorated  by  this  mon- 
ument.    The  surprise  was  as  great  to  me,  but  not 


ABERDEEN.  263 

quite  so  unpleasant,  as  that  of  a  gentleman  who 
lately  observed  a  beautiful  macaw  sitting  so  im- 
moveably  on  a  pole,  that,  never  doubting  the  bird 
was  stuffed,  he  walked  close  up,  to  examine  the 
p4umage,  and  only  discovered  his  mistake,  when  it 
seized  him  by  the  nose. 

Aberdeen  has  alw^ays  testified  peculiar  partiality 
for  the  Episcopalian  church,  and  the  inhabitants 
have  recently  erected  a  very  handsome  chapel, 
which  cost  je6000,  with  a  painted  glass  window, 
copied  from  Carlo  Dolci's  picture  of  our  Saviour 
blessing  the  sacred  symbols.  In  the  Rev.  Edward 
Ramsay's  very  interesting  sermon  on  behalf  of  the 
Scottish  Episcopal  Church  Society,  w^e  find  a  pic- 
ture drawn  of  clerical  poverty  and  privation,  not  to 
be  imagined  or  believed  without  such  testimony  as 
he  brings.  One  clergyman  in  the  north  derives  at 
present,  from  two  congregations,  an  income  of  only 
jESO,  another  receives  only  .£20  per  annum,  a  third 
announces  his  professional  income  to  be  jG2,  another 
had  a  living,  if  it  could  be  called  a  living,  of  ^612, 
and  the  last  I  shall  mention  was  starving  on  £6  !  ! 
Some  of  these  worthy  divines  have  congregations 
sufficiently  w^ealthy,  but  I  have  generally  observed, 
that  the  two  professions  to  which  we  owe  the  deep- 
est obligations  are  those  that  people  feel  most  un- 
W' illing  to  remunerate,  the  doctor  and  the  clergyman. 

In  one  church  at  Aberdeen,  we  heard  the  most 


264  ABERDEEN. 

distorted  attempt  at  English  ever  promulgated  from 
a  pulpit.  It  was  very  little  easier  to  understand 
than  if  the  preacher  had  been  speaking  on  the  plan 
recommended  by  an  Irishman  to  a  Highlander  who 
addressed  him  in  Gaelic,  "  Can't  you  turn  you 
tongue  the  other  way,  and  spake  English!"  No' 
a  single  vowel  got  fair  play  on  this  occasion,  for 
Scotchmen  who  wish  to  be  peculiarly  correct,  gen- 
erally omit  them  entirely;  and  the  preposition 
which  puzzle  our  northern  grammarians  more  thau 
can  be  conceived,  w^ere  all  on  duty  in  the  wrong- 
place.  If  public  speakers  would  only  deal  in  plain, 
honest,  broad  Scotch,  as  the  late  Lord  Melville  used 
to  do,  it  becomes  perfectly  comprehensible  even  to 
a  cockney,  but  the  distorted  dialects  people  invent 
for  themselves  to  conceal  a  provincial  accent,  be- 
come, to  most  listeners,  quite  an  unknown  tongue. 

Several  streets  in  the  venerable  town  of  Aber- 
deen are  exceedingly  handsome,  but  being  built  of 
granite  so  very  hard,  that  iron  instruments  are  fre- 
quently broken  in  attempting  to  work  it,  the  build- 
ings are  almost  entirely  without  ornament,  in  what 
architects  would  probably  term  "  a  severe  style." 
No  trimmings  are  to  be  seen  around  the  w^indows, 
w^hich  look  as  if  they  were  merely  patched  on  the 
surface  of  a  bare  w-all, — no  decorations  or  porticos 
over  the  doors,  but  high,  naked-looking  piles  of 
stone  arise  on  every  side,  of  a  cold  bluish  white. 


DUNOTTAR    CASTLE.  265 

which  it  chills  one  to  look  at.  How  different  from 
the  rich  warm  tint,  like  oiseau  de  paradis,  on  the 
free-stone  of  Elgin ;  yet  certainly  Union  Street  is 
undeniably  magnificent,  and  the  bridge  of  a  single 
arch  stupendous. 

The  late  M.  P.  for  this  county,  Mr.  Fergusson 
of  Pitfour,  used  to  give  the  result  of  his  Parlia- 
mentary experience  in  these  words,  which  would 
astonish  statesmen  of  the  present  day,  who  are  all, 
we  hope,  so  very  different — "  I  have  represented 
Aberdeenshire  for  half  a  century,  during  which,  I 
never  was  present  at  a  debate  I  could  avoid,  nor 
absent  from  a  division  I  could  get  to.  I  have  heard 
many  speeches  that  convinced  my  judgment,  but 
none  that  ever  influenced  my  vote.  I  once,  and 
only  once,  voted  on  my  own  opinion,  but  that  was 
the  most  erroneous  vote  I  ever  gave.  He  who 
would  be  easy  in  Parliament,  must  always  support 
administration,  but  never  take  ofhce." 

Fourteen  miles  south  of  Aberdeen  may  be  found 
the  picturesque  and  extensive  ruin  of  Dunottar  Cas- 
tle, seat  of  the  Keiths,  Earls  Marischal  of  Scotland, 
w^hose  origin  is  so  lost  in  antiquity,  that  they  are 
conjectured  to  have  been  Princes  of  the  Catti  in 
Germany,  before  the  Bourbon  or  Austrian  dynasties 
were  heard  of.  The  catastrophe  of  1715  caused 
this  ancient  title  to  be  forfeited ;  but  the  last  Earl 
nobly  represented  his  long  line  of  ancestry,  for  he 
23 


266  DUNOTTAR   CASTLE. 

became  the  chosen  and  distinguished  friend  of  Fred- 
erick the  Great,  and  his  brother,  Marshal  Keith, 
need  only  be  named,  to  recall  the  most  chivalrous 
recollections  of  bravery  and  generalship.  The  Em- 
press of  Russia  presented  him  with  a  sword  valued 
at  .£1500,  as  a  small  testimony  of  her  esteem,  and 
after  a  life  of  warlike  achievements,  he  died  victo- 
riously on  the  field  of  battle.  These  were  two  of 
the  most  distinguished  brothers  Scotland  ever  pro- 
duced. The  site  of  Dunottar  Castle  is  in  the  ocean, 
perched  on  a  high  peninsula,  nearly  the  whole  of 
w^hich  is  covered  by  the  walls,  which  surround  a 
spacious  court. 

A  gentleman  once  remarked  of  a  dull  visiter, 
"  what  a  pity  he  is  not  ill-natured,  as  that  would  be 
an  excuse  for  turning  him  out  of  the  room ;"  and 
you  may  probably  begin  to  think,  if  this  rather  dry 
letter  goes  on  much  longer,  that,  spiced  with  a  little 
peevishness,  it  might  be  quite  fit  for  the  fire;  so 
leaving  you  to  make  the  best  of  it,  as  you  always 
do  of  every  thing,  I  remain — at  Aberdeen,  as  much 
as  anywhere  else — ^your  affectionate  cousin. 


CASTLE    FRASER 


Lady  Percy.    "  What  is  it  carries  you  away  ?" 
Hotspur.    "  Why  !  a  horse,  madam,  a  horse.'' 

My  dear  Cousin, — It  occurs  to  me  at  this  mo- 
ment, as  being  curious,  in  how  many  different  things 
people  can  be  identified.  When  present  by  their 
features,  when  absent  by  their  voices,  and  even 
when  out  of  both  sight  and  hearing,  by  their  hand- 
writing. All  are  so  peculiar  to  the  individual,  that 
I  begin  to  think  the  collecting  of  autographs  a  per- 
fectly respectable  pursuit,  as  they  certainly  give 
some  insight  into  character ;  therefore,  next  time 
you  WTite  to  me,  take  your  best  pen,  in  case  of  ap- 
pearing in  my  album.  I  suppose  the  Duke  of  Wel- 
lington and  O'Connell  never  accept  an  invitation  to 
dinner,  or  are  sorry  that  a  previous  engagement 
prevents  them,  without  imminent  danger  of  their 
being  afterwards  carefully  embalmed  on  a  folio 
sheet  of  paper,  beside  specimens  of  scribbling  from 
Grace  Darling,  Joseph  Hume,  Dr.  Chalmers,  Lady 
Blessington,  Lockhart,  Wilson,  Captain  Hall,  Han- 
nah More,  Wilberforce,  Mrs.  Couch,  and  the  whole 
Bench  of  Bishops. 

I  never  could  have  guessed  half  the  annoyance 


268  CASTLE    FRASER. 

endured  in  society  by  the  race  of  lions,  unless  I  had 
happened  often  to  see  Sir  Walter  Scott  suffering 
under  it,  who  would  frequently  have  been  thankful 
to  put  on  a  domino,  or  to  adopt  invisibility,  as  every 
body  pricked  forward  their  ears  if  he  merely  asked 
what  o'clock  it  was,  and  ceased  to  breathe  when  he 
made  a  remark  on  the  weather. 

After  leaving  Aberdeen,  we  proceeded,  in  our 
usual  touch-and-go  style  of  travelling,  through  the 
chai-ming  valley  of  Strathdon,  to  inspect  a  large  as- 
sortment of  castles,  new,  old,  and  middle-aged,  which 
embellish  the  rivers  Dee  and  Don,  two  rival  streams, 
the  comparative  merits  of  which  are  keenly  disputed 
by  lovers  of  the  picturesque  ;  and  as  I  actually  do 
not  claim  to  be  a  perfectly  infallible  judge  on  these 
subjects,  you  shall  have  the  impartial  verdict  of  a 
poet,  who  thinks  he  has  settled  the  point  by  an 
elegant  couplet : 

"  One  foot  of  Don's  worth  two  of  Dee, 
Except  it  be  for  fish  and  tree." 

Among  the  best  remaining  specimens  of  old 
Scottish  fortresses,  we  admired  none  more  than 
Castle  Fraser,  which  seems  in  perfect  preservation, 
with  a  curious  old  French  court  behind,  and  possess- 
ing a  noble  round  tower,  nearly  a  hundred  feet 
high,  quite  a  model  of  ancient  architecture,  being 
surrounded  by  handsome  balustrades,  and  defended 


CASTLE    FRASER.  269 

by  stone  cannon.  I  had  unluckily  obtained  false 
information  respecting  this  place,  being  assured  that 
no  access  could  possibly  be  obtained  to  see  it,  and 
an  exaggerated  representation  was  drawn,  of  its 
having  been  fortified  inaccessibly  against  the  intru- 
sion of  idle  curiosity.  I  merely  ventured,  therefore, 
to  station  our  carriage  as  a  cor]^s  de  reserve  at  the 

gate,  and  with  A —  for  an  advanced  guard,  stole 

upon  tip-toe  along  the  approach,  concealed  myself 
in  an  ambuscade  behind  a  large  plane  tree,  and  from 
thence  took  a  hasty  survey  of  the  premises.  After 
having  counted  the  windows,  estimated  the  height  of 
the  towers,  guessed  the  thickness  of  the  walls,  ad- 
mired the  curious  gable-headed  windows,  wondered 
at  th*e  number  of  projecting  little  turrets,  and  ascer- 
tained for  certain,  that  the  castle  is  a  very  great 
deal  larger  at  the  top  than  at  the  foundation,  my 
curiosity  having  been  rather  increased  than  satiated, 
I  took  courage,  and  asked  a  servant  boy  in  livery, 
who  was  passing  towards  the  castle,  whether  we 
could  possibly  see  the  house,  but  he  appeared  panic- 
struck  at  the  sight  of  strangers,  stared  as  if  we  had 
been  apparitions,   and  suddenly  absconded  at  full 

speed !     A was  amused  beyond  measure,  but 

this  castastrophe  completely  intimidated  me,  and  I 
slowly  retreated  in  good  order,  almost  expecting  the 
cannons  to  fire  upon  us. 

The  country  round  this  neighbourhood  exhibits 
23* 


270  CASTLE    FRASER. 

infallible  symptoms  of  resident  proprietors,  the  fields 
being  all  thoroughly  drained,  hedged,  planted,  cul- 
tivated, and  presenting  a  general  aspect  of  pros- 
perity. Our  drive  was  delicious,  till  we  reached  the 
splendid  modern,  spic-and-span-new  castle  recently 
built  by  Mr.  Gordon  of  Cluny.  It  is  still  quite  damp 
from  the  press,  and  wall  not  be  habitable  for  some 
months.  The  plan  is  designed  by  a  young  unpro- 
fessional artist,  who,  wonderful  to  relate,  omitted 
neither  door,  \vindow,  nor  stair-case,  and  has  been 
altogether  so  successful,  that  he  deserves  three 
rounds  of  applause.  The  granite  is  so  very  hard, 
that  it  w^ould  almost  need  to  be  cut  with  a  diamond, 
but  after  years  of  laborious  chiseUing,  a  magnificent 
front  of  exquisite  masonry  has  been  completed, 
though,  I  dare  say,  to  calculate  the  expense  might 
puzzle  Cooker  himself. 

I  must  now  give  you  a  "graphic  sketch," 
painted  expressly  for  the  occasion,  of  this  extensive 
building.  The  style  is  very  peculiar,  and  must  be- 
long, I  should  guess,  to  no  particular  order,  and  to 
the  class  specio-cissima,  A  high  circular  tow^er  at 
one  end,  four  stories  high,  is  surmounted  by  a  square 
ditto  three  stories  higher,  which  seems  to  have 
grow^n  out  of  the  other,  and  which  is  curiously 
flanked  at  the  summit  by  a  pointed  turret,  stuck  on 
apparently  by  accident.  This  lofty  pile  is  a  grand 
exti  avaganza  in  stone,  reaching  nearer  the  moon 


MONYMUSK.  271 

than  any  modern  tower  I  know,  while  the  main 
body  of  this  edifice  abounds  in  cheerful,  air}*,  well- 
proportioned  rooms.  The  castle  wants  nothing  now^ 
but  good  fires,  furniture,  and  inhabitants. 

The  park  displays  abundance  of  grass,  and  is 
embellished  with  middle-aged  trees,  but  has  not  a 
drop  of  w^ater  to  show  in  the  whole  landscape, — 
not  so  much  as  a  canal  or  a  horse  pond.  Some  of 
the  ground  lies  so  flat,  as  almost  to  defy  draining, 
and  after  great  expense  incurred  to  improve  the 
soil,  Johnston  the  drainer  was  brought  to  inspect  it, 
and  questioned  w^hether  the  ground  did  not  now 
look  "  rather  parkish  ?"  to  which  he  dryly  answered, 
"  No  !  it  is  rather  lakish." 

Next  in  this  world  of  ancient  feudal  castles,  we 
passed  the  snug,  tidy,  quaint-looking  old  place  of 
Monymusk,  better  situated  than  most  of  the  others, 
near  the  Don.  Not  far  off,  we  admired  the  solemnly 
pleasing  shades  of  a  fine  forest,  rather  w^himsically 
named  Paradise.  The  proprietor  of  this  little  for- 
tress unfortunately  took  the  key  in  his  pocket,  when 
he  went  to  the  Continent,  so  on  our  inquiring 
whether  it  might  be  seen,  a  maid,  who  w^as  sitting 
with  closed  doors,  showed  her  profile  through  a 
small  crevice,  and  gave  us  warning  to  quit.  You 
see,  therefore,  the  proverb  is  not  alwuys  true, 
'*  Chateau  qui  parte,  et  feimne  qui  ccoute,  va  se 
rendre  /" 


272  MONYMUSK. 

The  little  village  of  Monymusk  is  quite  a  model 
of  neatness,  built  in  the  form  of  a  large  square,  with 
a  grass  common  in  the  middle,  enclosed  by  a  fence 
of  rough  stakes,  and  by  a  luxuriant  inner  hedge  of 
thorn.  Here  many  of  the  villagers  were  strolling 
about  with  a  look  of  cheerful  indolent  leisure,  as  if 
they  had  worked  enough  for  the  day,  and  felt  enti- 
tled now  to  be  happy.  Nearly  all  the  common 
people  in  Scotland  walk  with  their  hands  in  their 
pockets, — better  certainly  than  in  any  other  person's 
— but  it  gives  them  an  anxious  forlorn  appearance, 
as  if  in  chase  of  their  last  shilling. 

The  Priory  here  has  been  handsome,  and  still 
preserves  some  remains  of  grandeur,  though  six 
hundred  years  old.  The  ancient  Saxon  arches  at 
each  end  are  entire,  and  look  as  if  they  might  last 
six  hundred  years  more  ;  or  perhaps  as  long  as  the 
earth  continues  spinning  on  her  axle. 

The  small  inn-parlour  at  Monymusk  is  decorated 
with  a  little  fancy  print,  which,  though  the  subject 
be  melancholy,  might  make  the  gravest  person 
smile.  It  represents  Prince  Leopold  and  Britannia 
mourning  at  the  tomb  of  Princess  Charlotte — he, 
appropriately  costumed  in  a  flowing  black  tragedy- 
cloak,  the  very  image  of  a  second-rate  actor,  and 
she,  w^eeping  in  a  rose-coloiu-ed  dress,  yellow  body, 
and  pink  feathers,  over  an  urn,  very  like  the  glass 
globe  in  an  apothecary's  shop,  or  as  if  she  were  in 


CASTLE    FORBES.  273 

the  last  agonies  of  sea-sickness.  The  very  lion  at 
her  feet  seems  wiping  his  eyes  with  his  paw,  look- 
ing more  like  a  lion  in  distress  than  any  thing  I 
ever  witnessed  before. 

We  passed  Pitfichy,  a  ruin  w^hich  belonged  to 
the  family  of  the  well  known  General  Hurry,  of 
the  Parliamentary  army,  and  Tillyfour,  which  Avas, 
I  hope,  in  better  repair  W'hen  Queen  Mary  inhabited 
it  for  one  night  only,  and  by  particular  desire.  Our 
carriage  wheels  then  turned  themselves  towards 
Castle  Forbes,  belonging  to  the  premier  Baron  of 
Scotland.  This  is  a  finely  situated  modern  house, 
exhibiting,  of  course,  a  majestic  round  tower,  which 
is  quite  the  newest  fashion  in  building.  The  oppo- 
site tow^er  is  square.  Formal  and  regular  plans  are 
now  quite  out,  and  every  thing  in  the  free-and-easy 
style  of  architecture,  with  as  few  of  the  windows, 
doors,  or  turrets  to  match  as  possible.  We  admired 
this  place  exceedingly,  and  the  Castle  has  a  beauti- 
ful effect  in  the  distance,  peeping  out  through  a 
mass  of  w^ood,  about  half-way  up  the  bank,  as  if  it 
had  stopped  in  ascending,  to  take  a  look  of  the 
country,  and  remained  stationary  to  admire  it  for 
ever.  No  wonder !  The  Don  flow^s  gracefully 
through  a  gay  panorama  of  plantations,  castles, 
farms,  and  distant  hills,  a  correct  inventory  of  which 
w^ould  fill  the  rest  of  ray  paper. 

You  must  one  day  visit  the  seven  tall  towers  of 


274  KILDRUMMY   CASTLE. 

Kildrumray  Castle,  formerly  considered  impregnable, 
but  which  a  sparrow  now  may  take  possession  of. 
They  were  built  by  St.  Gilbert,  in  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury, and  all  enterprising  tourists  should  positively 
make  a  digression  off  the  road,  to  ascend  the  dark 
ghosty-looking  stairs,  and  to  fight  many  battles  over 
again  on  the  spot  which  once  steeped  those  W'alls 
in  the  blood  of  heroes.  Every  stone  has  had  its  ad- 
ventures; but  Kildrummy  Castle  was  finally  be- 
trayed to  the  English  army  by  a  blacksmith,  bribed 
to  this  treachery  with  the  promise  of  as  much  gold 
as  he  could  carry.  In  pursuance  of  his  engagement, 
he  threw  a  red-hot  bar  into  the  hayloft,  w^hich  set 
the  castle  on  fire,  and  during  the  consequent  confu- 
sion, it  was  taken,  but  the  mercenar}^  traitor  suffered 
a  frightful  punishment  from  his  own  recent  allies, 
who,  detesting  his  crime,  kept  their  promise  in  a 
literal  sense,  by  pouring  melted  gold  down  his 
throat !  Our  old  Scotch  proverb  truly  says,  "  better 
a  little  fire  that  warms,  than  mickle  that  burns." 

I  am  now  about  to  adopt  a  grand  historical  tone, 
and  to  tell  you  a  little  more,  for  even  if  you  know 
my  tale  already,  yet,  like  Sir  Christopher  Hutton  in 
the  Critic,  you  will  be  better  of  hearing  it  all  over 
again. 

Kildrummy  Castle,  formerly  the  chief  seat  of  the 
powerful  Earls  of  Mar,  always  distinguished  itself 
greatly  in  Scottish  history.     When  Robert  Bruce 


KILDRUMMY    CASTLE.  275 

first  asserted  his  claims  to  the  crown,  and  met  with 
reverses,  he  lodged  his  Queen  and  daughter  here, 
under  charge  of  his  brother  Sir  Niel.  Being  threat- 
ened with  a  siege,  the  ladies  fled  to  a  sanctuary, 
where  they  w^ere  betrayed  by  the  Earl  of  Ross ;  and 
after  a  brave  defence  for  some  time,  they  were  only 
captured  through  the  treachery  of  Osborn,  an  Eng- 
lishman, who  blew  up  the  powder  magazine.  Thus 
the  ladies  had  only  saved  themselves  from  Scylla, 
and  plunged  into  Charybdis,  or,  to  use  a  vulgar 
phrase,  they  were  "  out  of  the  frying-pan  into  the 
fire."  By  the  w^ay,  Hume  or  Ahson  would  blot 
such  an  expression  out  of  their  pages,  and  I  wish  at 
present  to  be  quite  upon  their  model,  so  try  to  for- 
get it. 

Kildrummy  Castle  was  again  beleaguered  in 
1335,  when  the  misfortunes  of  David  Bruce  had  left 
this  kingdom,  during  three  years,  in  the  hands  of 
Edward  Baliol  and  his  partisans.  It  held  out 
bravely  against  the  Earl  of  Athol,  who  being  sm'- 
prised  by  a  very  inferior  force,  and  killed,  in  the 
forest  of  Kilblain,  the  tide  of  fortune  turned,  and 
swept  away  the  whole  English  party  from  the  en- 
tire kingdom  of  Scotland,  which  now,  as  on  all  oc- 
casions, proved  unconquerable. 

A  third  siege  in  1404  is  quite  romantic,  when  it 
was  assailed  by  a  band  of  robbers,  commanded  by 
Alexender   Stewart,   natural  son  of  the  notorious 


276  KILDRUMMY    CASTLE. 

character,  infamous  in  our  Scottish  annals,  "The 
Wolf  of  Badenoch,"  whose  real  title  was  Earl  of 
Buchan,  being  third  son  of  King  Robert  the  Second. 
Though  he  burned  and  robbed  Elgin  Cathedral,  ill 
treated  his  wife,  a  Countess  in  her  own  right,  and 
distinguished  himself  by  every  species  of  atrocity, 
yet  on  his  tomb-stone  in  Dunkeld  Cathedral,  we  find 
him  complaisantly  stated  to  be  "  of  good  memory  !" 
How  different  will  be  the  record  kept  on  earth,  from 
that  which  shall  be  heard  at  an  eternal  tribunal ! 

The  adventurous  young  freebooter  and  his  gang 
attacked  Kildrummy  Castle  when  it  was  occupied 
by  the  hereditary  Countess  of  Mar  in  her  own  right, 
then  a  widow\  He  stormed  it,  gained  possession, 
made  a  mockery  of  delivering  up  the  keys  and  pa- 
pers into  her  own  hand  at  the  gate,  and  finally 
obliged  her  to  declare  that  she  voluntarily  took  him 
as  her  husband,  for  better  or  worse, — indeed  he 
could  hardly  be  worse.  The  successful  adventurer 
now  styled  himself  Earl  of  Mar,  and  became,  as 
times  go,  quite  a  respectable  man !  He  was  ambas- 
sador "  extraordinary !"  to  England,  fought  in  a 
tournament  wdth  the  Earl  of  Kent,  commanded  a 
Scottish  army  against  the  Lord  of  the  Isles  at  Har- 
low, was  generalissimo  to  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  in 
support  of  the  Bishop  of  Liege,  and  retaining  the 
Earldom,  though  his  wife  died  without  children,  he 
finally  married  Lady  Duffyl  an  heiress  in  Brabant. 


CRAIGIEVAR    CASTLE.  277 

We  caught,  in  passing,  a  distant  glimpse  of 
Craigievar,  a  singular  old  Castle,  the  lower-half 
being  a  plain  square  tower  entirely  without  orna- 
ment, and  so  narrow,  you  might  suppose  it  had  worn 
a  strait-waistcoat,  but  above  it  juts  out  on  all  sides, 
in  a  strange,  any-how-fashion,  with  little  gable-ends, 
little  turrets,  and  little  windows,  as  if  a  whole  vil- 
lage had  scrambled  up  and  clustered  on  the  roof. 
Supreme  above  all,  waved  a  large  showy  banner, 
which  the  post-boy,  with  an  approving  nod,  pointed 
out,  informing  me  it  was  "  A  Reform  flag,  and  had 
never  been  taken  down  since  the  passing  of  the 
bill !"  The  ancestor  of  this  family  obtained  his 
baronetage  from  King  Charles,  against  whom  he 
soon  afterwards  took  arms.  In  an  old  ballad  of  those 
times,  describing  the  death  of  "  Bonny  John  Seton, 
a  baron  bold,"  in  memory  of  whom  the  family  still 
bear  on  their  shield  a  heart  dropping  blood,  we  find 
these  lines,  showing  w^hat  mixed  motives  often  dic- 
tate extreme  measures: 

"Oh,  spoil  him,  spoil  him  !  cried  Craigievar, 
Him  spoiled  let  me  see  ; 
For  on  my  word,  said  Craigievar, 
He  bore  no  good  will  to  me." 

If  you  have  a  laudable  curiosity  to  see  Macbeth's 

cairn,  he  was  decidedly  killed  near  this,  at  Lumpha- 

nan,  three  miles  beyond  Kincardine  O'Neil,  and 

though  most  of  the  monumental  pile  was  pilfered 

24 


278  CRAIGIEVAR. 

formerly  to  build  cow-sheds  and  pig  styes,  yet  enough 
still  remains  to  identify  the  spot. 

As  Shakspeare  says,  "  the  property  of  rain  is  to 
wet ;"  so,  as  we  were  treated  in  the  evening  to  a 
mixture  of  showers  and  wind,  with  a  few  scruples 
of  Scotch  mist,  we  first  attempted  a  stoppage  at  the 
Bridge  of  Alford,  but  finding  only  a  curtainless,  car- 
petless,  dingy  apartment,  pre-occupied  by  sportsmen 
for  fishing,  we  merely  snatched  a  chop,  looked  for 
the  field  where  the  battle  of  Alford  was  fought,  and 
where  Lord  Huntly's  eldest  son  was  killed,  and  then 
proceeded,  by  the  beautiful  banks  of  the  Don,  to  this 
little  perfection  of  a  Highland  farm-inn  at  Kincar- 
dine O'Neil,  kept  by  a  cordial,  hearty  old  landlady, 
who  w^ould  have  served  me  up  three  courses  at  tea, 
if  I  had  not  barricadoed  the  table  against  any  thing 
more.  After  bringing  up  six  kinds  of  tea-bread, 
eggs,  and  marmalade,  she  made  a  desperate  attempt 
to  force  a  dish  of  chops  or  chickens  upon  us,  but  I 
would  not  hear  of  so  much  as  a  biscuit  being  added 
to  the  liberal  entertainment,  having  adopted  the 
opinion  of  an  old  gentleman,  who  remarked,  that 
supper  is  "  an  insult  to  dinner,  and  an  injury  to 
breakfast." 

The  landlady  presented  me  next  morning  with 
a  beautiful  bouquet,  containing  all  the  best  flowers 
in  her  garden,  and  though  none  were  exotics,  the 
good  old  native  wall-flowers  and  thyme,  with  their 


CRAIGIEVAR. 


279 


fragrant  perfume,  come  back  like  the  familiar  friends 
of  by-gone  days,  and  revive  many  "thoughts  too 
deep  for  tears."  Who  does  not  remember  the  period 
when  one  little  enclosure,  frilled  round  with  box- 
w^ood  and  flaunting  with  sun-flowers  and  daffodils, 
gave  him  more  real  joy  than  the  gardens  at  Kew 
could  do  now  if  he  had  them  ?  and  as  the  simpler 
we  can  keep  our  tastes,  the  more  easy  they  are  of 
indulgence,  I  would  not  exchange  my  partiality  to 
honeysuckles,  violets,  and  roses,  for  all  the  scent- 
less rarities  that  ever  adorned  a  green-house,  direct- 
ing their  attractions  to  the  eye  and  not  to  the  heart. 
It  was  in  honour  of  our  good  old  landlady,  Mrs. 
Gordon,  that  these  very  beautiful  lines  were  penned, 
containing  an  eloquent  and  deserved  panegyric,  writ- 
ten with  so  much  taste  and  feeling,  that  we  have 
scarcely  yet  decided  whether  the  style  resembles 
most  that  of  Moore  or  Mrs.  Hemans. 

Of  all  the  hosUeries  so  fair, 
Built  for  the  traveller's  dwelling, 
On  Dee-side,  far  beyond  compare, 
Kincardine  is  excelling. 


LOCH-NA-GAR. 


Years  have  roll'd  on,  Loch-na-gar,  since  I  left  you ! 

Years  must  elapse  ere  I  tread  you  again, 
Nature  of  verdure  and  flow'rs  has  bereft  you, 

Yet  still  are  you  dearer  than  Albion's  plain. 

England !  thy  beauties  are  tame  and  domestic, 
To  one  who  has  rov'd  on  the  mountains  afar  ! 

Oh  !  for  the  crags  that  are  wild  and  majestic, 
The  steep  frowning  glories  of  dark  Loch-na-gar. 

BVRON. 

My  dear  Cousin, — Here  we  are,  in  the  scene  of 
Lord  Byron's  early  days,  where,  before  "  splendour 
had  raised,  but  embittered  his  lot,"  he  joyously  ran 
over  the  lofty  hills,  without  his  hat,  and  where, 
again  to  use  his  own  expression,  he  "  clasp'd  the 
mountain  in  his  mind's  embrace,"  a  stretch  of  imag- 
ination certainly  !  Near  the  snow-covered  summit 
of  Morven,  he  imbibed  a  taste  for  those  cloud-capped 
mountains,  thundering  torrents,  and  pathless  forests, 
which  owe  their  subsequent  celebrity  to  his  pen, 
and  you  could  not  wonder  here  that  Byron  became 
a  poet,  but  would  be  apt  rather  to  wonder  that 
every  one  is  not. 

We  drove  to-day  through  moors  purple  with 
heather,  and  sprinkled  with  birch,  the  pyramids  of 


LOCH-NA-GAR.  281 

hills  growing  bolder  as  we  advanced,  and  the  beau- 
tiful Dee  dancing  beside  us  most  of  the  time,  while 
a  magnificent  confusion  of  mountains  hemmed  us  in 
on  every  side,  rock  above  rock,  and  one  precipice 
looking  over  the  head  of  another,  in  endless  succes- 
sion, some  as  bare  as  a  turnpike  road,  and  others 
crowded  with  trees  to  their  highest  pinnacles. 
Here  we  gained  a  momentary  glimpse  of  Aboyne 
Castle,  covered  with  a  sheet  of  white-wash,  a  fine 
feudal-looking  edifice,  embosomed  in  fir-trees,  and 
rather  shy  of  showing  itself. 

The  inn  at  Ballater  is  charmingly  situated  at 
one  end  of  a  bridge,  w^ith  the  swiftly  flowing  river 
rushing  along  at  the  extremity  of  a  neat  little 
flowxr  garden.  This  was  quite  a  place  to  spend 
the  summer  at,  instead  of  merely  changing  horses 
as  we  did.  Here  the  sole,  engrossing  business  of 
every  body's  life  seemed  to  be  trout-fishing,  and  I 
pity  every  gentleman  not  fond  of  that  fascinating 
sport,  which  becomes  often  an  inexhaustible  re- 
source to  the  half-pay  world,  many  of  whom  occupy 
their  whole  mornings  in  angling,  and  their  evenings 
in  dressing  hooks.  I  like  to  see  a  hat  like  some 
we  passed  to-day,  stuck  over,  inside  and  out,  with 
flies,  as  if  a  bee-hive  had  swarmed  on  it.  Many 
ladies  in  the  Highlands  wield  the  rod,  though  rather 
perhaps  out  of  their  element  on  such  an  occasion. 
I  was  amused  to  hear  of  a  chieftain,  accustomed 

w 


282  LOCH-NA-GAR. 

only  to  angling,  who  arrived  in  a  hunting  country, 
where  a  kind  neighbour,  finding  he  had  never  before 
seen  this  sort  of  sport,  gave  him  a  mount  on  a 
spirited  steed,  which,  of  course,  ran  off  with  him, 
but  as  he  flew  past  his  friend  at  full  career,  vainly 
trying  to  hold  in  the  reins,  he  was  heard  to  exclaim, 
with  a  true  Highland  drawl,  "  I  like  fishing  much 
better!" 

I  receive  daily  lessons  against  indulging  an  ex- 
cessive partiality  to  open  carriages,  but  it  seems 
quite  incurable.  We  discovered  a  most  enticing 
little  britchska  to  be  hired  at  Ballator,  and,  con- 
gratulating myself  on  such  a  piece  of  good  fortune, 
I  took  possession,  and  proceeded  the  first  three 
miles  of  our  beautiful  journey  in  the  most  unalloyed 
state  of  enjoyment,  but  gradually  the  mist  hung  in 
festoons  almost  down  to  the  road,  and  at  last  came 
such  a  burst  of  rain  that  travellers  must  have  been 
drenched  before  they  could  raise  an  umbrella.  In 
this  bold,  romantic  scene,  it  became  most  tantahzing 
not  to  know  a  cloud  from  a  hill,  but  they  must,  in- 
deed, at  all  times  be  near  neighbours  on  very  inti- 
mate terms. 

Besides  the  gray  precipices,  hoarse  waterfalls, 
towering  hills,  and  inconceivable  profusion  of  birch 
and  fir  trees,  this  noble  scene  displays  another  beauty 
which  you  w^ould  scarcely  anticipate,  being  quite 
the  kingdom  of  wild  roses.     We  saw  thousands  by 


LOCH-NA-GAR.  283 

the  road  side, — 2.  perfect  army  of  red  and  white 
roses  drawn  up  in  battle  array,  and  scattered  all 
around  in  dazzKng  abundance.  You  perhaps  fancy 
I  mean  mere  hedges,  but  there  were  wild  unculti- 
vated fields  of  them,  giving  so  flushed  and  full- 
dressed  an  aspect  to  the  landscape,  that  the  road 
seemed  ornamented  for  a  gala,  and  several  branches 
had  straggled  so  far  across  our  path  that  I  could 
almost  have  plucked  them  as  we  drove  along.  If 
you  wish  to  know  how  a  dress  of  green  velvet  and 
roses  would  look,  nature  certainly  wears  one  here. 
As  Bishop  Home  remarked  of  a  Christian's  afflic- 
tions, "  every  thorn  is  accompanied  by  a  flower !" 
Sometimes  while  contrasting  the  simple  delight  of 
living  in  a  scene  like  this  with  the  artificial  enjoy- 
ments of  a  towTi  career,  I  have  thought  the  differ- 
ence might  be  aptly  illustrated  by  comparing  the 
feelings  of  a  wearied,  haggard,  and  worn-out  vota- 
ry of  dissipation,  with  faded  looks  and  exhausted 
spirits,  hurrying  home  from  a  ball-room  at  the 
dawn  of  day,  and  meeting  the  joyous  school-boys 
and  market  girls,  fresh  from  their  country  homes, 
with  buoyant  spirits  and  unimpaired  health,  untar- 
nished by  the  heat,  glare,  and  dust  which  have  ac- 
companied unnatural  excitement.  It  is  astonishing 
how  many  prefer  gas  light  to  sunshine  itself,  which, 
like  the  light  of  religion,  cheers  every  moment  of 
joy,  interfering  vrith  no  pleasure  that  deserves  the 


284  ABERGELDIE    CASTLE. 

name,  and  least  of  all  with  our  interest  and  delight 
in  contemplating  the  works  of  creation  and  Provi- 
dence. 

Abergeldie  Castle,  which  we  passed,  is  a  tall 
white  house,  like  a  spectre  among  the  dark  moun- 
tains, quite  romantically  beautiful  in  situation,  and 
properly  furnished  with  bartizans  and  turrets  com- 
plete. Burns  wrote  a  song  on  the  "  birks  of  Aber- 
feldie,"  but  the  great  original  birches  were  those  of 
this  place,  which  we  now  admired,  and  the  more 
ancient  ballad  begins  with  an  invitation  which  I 
would  recommend  every  one  to  accept  who  admires 
a  fascinating  country, — 

Bonny  lassie,  will  ye  go 
To  the  birks  o'  Abergeldie  1 

The  river  Dee  flows,  broad,  deep,  and  silent,  be- 
neath the  walls  of  this  old  building,  and  the  inhabi- 
tants being  obliged  to  make  a  circuit  of  some  miles 
for  a  bridge,  have  suspended  a  cradle  here,  from 
tree  to  tree,  across  the  rapid  stream,  in  which  en- 
terprising travellers  may  venture  a  flight  on  a  slack 
rope  in  the  same  way  as  at  Noss  Head.  Here  the 
foundation  is  more  secure  than  that  of  Shetland, 
where,  in  default  of  trees,  large  poles  are  merely 
stuck  in  the  ground,  but,  nevertheless,  I  was  truly 
glad  not  to  be  going  in  that  direction,  because,  after 
engaging  to  use  whatever  conveyances  the  country 


BALMORRAL.  285 

afforded,  I  should  have  been  bound  in  honour  to 
suspend  myself  here.  The  last  accident  which  oc- 
curred on  the  swing-bridge  was  when  a  gamekeeper 
and  dogs  were  emptied  into  the  water,  and  had  to 
swim  for  their  lives ;  but  a  more  tragical  catastrophe 
took  place  several  years  ago.  An  excise  officer 
having  fallen  in,  crowds  assembled,  eager  to  rescue 
a  fellow-creature  in  distress,  but  when  the  sufferer 
was  unluckily  recognised,  they  left  him  to  his  fate, 
exclaiming,  "It's  only  the  guager  !"  If  a  High« 
land  jury  had  been  summoned  to  the  inquest,  they 
w^ould  have  been  apt  to  return  a  verdict  like  that 
given  lately  on  the  trial  of  a  man  for  violently  beat- 
ing his  wife.  When  the  jury  re-entered,  after  long 
deliberation,  and  the  judge  solemnly  asked  for  their 
decision,  it  was  unanimously  delivered  in  these  words, 
"  Sarved  her  right !" 

A  bride  and  bridegroom  once,  w^hen  attempting 
to  cross  by  this  fantastic  contrivance,  on  the  day  of 
their  marriage,  were  precipitated  into  the  rolling 
current,  and  perished.  Such  melancholy  and  unex- 
pected catastrophes  bring  to  my  mind  sometimes  the 
homely  remark  of  a  rural  preacher,  "  Death  is  like 
a  cow  in  a  daisy-field,  cropping  here,  and  there,  and 
everywhere,  by  turns  !" 

We  next  observed  Balmorral,  a  beautiful  place 
of  Lord  Fife's,  who  seems  fortunate  in  a  tenant,  as 
we  were  told  that  it  has  been  long  occupied  for 


286  INVERCAULD. 

shooting  quarters  by  a  sportsman,  who  adds  a  new 
wing  or  tower  to  the  house  ahnost  every  year,  and 
gathers  a  perfect  battu  of  excellent  shots  round 
the  neighbourhood.  If  it  be  any  consolation  to  die 
by  noble  hands,  the  whole  House  of  Lords  seemed 
in  full  progress  here  for  the  ensuing  campaign, 
w^hen  the  country  will  be  fragrant  with  gunpowder, 
and  resounding  with  shots.  We  saw  one  noble  red- 
deer  standing  by  the  road  side,  and  staring  at  us 
while  we  passed,  as  if  he  meant  to  "  take  down  our 
number."  He  seemed  to  have  no  idea  of  making 
way  for  intruders  in  his  native  forests,  and  I  am  told 
these  animals  scarcely  notice  a  carriage  at  any  time, 
therefore  the  best  w^ay  to  shoot  them  w^ould  be  to  go 
out  in  one. 

The  next  place  on  our  muster-roll  of  houses  w^as 
Invercauld,  which  has  for  many  centuries  belonged 
to  the  ancestors  of  Mrs.  Farquharson,  the  present 
chieftainess  of  that  clan.  Here  magnificent  forests 
clamber  up  the  mountain  sides,  and  stately  old  trees 
enrich  the  valley,  which,  surrounded  by  a  ring  of 
lofty  pinnacles,  can  be  compared  to  nothing  but 
Sinbad's  valley  of  diamonds,  to  which  birds  alone 
could  find  access.  You  w^ould  be  quite  perplexed 
to  imagine  how  a  carriage  ever  w^ound  its  way  into 
this  beautiful  park,  or  is  ever  to  get  out  again. 
Loch-na-gar  rushes  up  w^ith  a  fine  sweep  towards 
the  sky,  where  it  indents  the  very  firmament  above. 


INVERCAULD.  287 

The  Lion's  face  is  a  noble  craggy  precipice,  and 
another  mountain  opposite  the  house  of  Invercaukl, 
displays  flowers  at  the  base  and  snow  on  the  sum- 
mit. 

You  can  dream  of  nothing  comparable  to  the 
effect  by  moonlight  on  Ben-y-bourd  and  Loch-na- 
gar,  looking  blacker  than  night,  as  if  carved  in  ebony 
or  jet,  varied  by  solemn  forests  of  fir,  and  the  dark 
foaming  current  of  the  Dee.  It  was  in  this  romantic 
district  that  a  native,  brought  from  the  featureless 
flats  of  Buchan,  was  asked  what  he  thought  of  the 
scenery,  when  he  remarked  in  a  tone  of  diverting 
perplexity,  "  Oh  !  it's  very  fine  scainery, — but  its 
a'  scamery  together  I  nothing  but  scainery  ! — feint 
a  flea  but  scainery ! !" 

We  enjoyed  a  charming  drive  next  morning, 
with  Mrs.  Farquharson,  through  several  miles  of 
natural  forest,  in  w^hich  every  thing  appeared  wild 
and  uncultivated,  as  if  not  a  human  being  had  ever 
interfered  with  the  course  of  nature.  Aged  fir  trees 
bristled  against  the  sky,  their  furrowed  gray  stems 
looking  as  old  as  the  mountains  they  covered,  while 
clustered  together  for  miles,  their  strange  fantastic 
arms  were  thrown  out  in  every  curious  contortion 
that  can  be  imagined,  beneath  which,  the  whole 
ground  was  embroidered  with  a  wild  profusion  of 
heather,  cranberries,  thyme,  roses,  myrtle,  fox -glove, 
and  the  old  original  blue  bells  of  Scotland.     Who 


288  INVERCAULD. 

could  attempt  to  describe  such  a  scene !  it  is  impos- 
sible !  the  gigantic  outline,  and  the  minute  finish- 
ing,— the  hills  of  a  thousand  years,  and  the  blossoms 
of  an  hour !  all  that  is  majestic,  and  all  that  is  lovely 
in  nature,  glowing  beneath  a  flood  of  sunshine,  and 
fdling  the  heart  with  enraptured  gratitude  towards 
that  Great  Being,  who,  in  embelhshing  our  world 
with  beauty,  has  given  us  one  earthly  pleasure,  in 
which  there  is  no  sinful  excess,  no  disappointment, 
and  almost  a  foretaste  of  that  felicity  which  we  look 
for  in  a  still  brighter  and  better  w^orld. 

The  road,  gently  undulating  up  and  down  the 
mountain  side,  might  have  been  supposed  merely  a 
track  formed  by  accident,  but  in  other  places  it 
whirled  round  the  hills  like  a  corkscrew.  We  drove 
in  a  light  open  carriage,  drawn  by  spirited  young 
horses,  which,  in  any  other  circumstances,  would 
have  engrossed  my  most  anxious  attention,  but  such 
was  the  elevating  effect  of  this  sublime  scene,  that 
I  actually  forgot  to  be  frightened !  The  proud 
Lord  Abercorn,  used  to  drive  his  thorough-bred 
horses  over  hill  and  dale,  with  no  other  reins  than 
blue  ribbons,  the  trappings  he  delighted  in  for  him- 
self, but  having  tried  the  experiment  once  too  often, 
they  ran  off,  when  he  leaped  out  and  broke  both 
his  legs. 

These  roads  through  the  tangled  forests  were 
made  by  a  regiment  formerly  quartered  in  the  old 


INA'ERCAULD.  289 

Castle  of  Braemar,  a  square  tower  ornamenting  the 
park  of  Invercauld,  which  once  belonged  to  the 
Earls  of  Mar.  Colonel  Farquharson,  seeing  those 
soldiers  falUng  into  idle  habits,  like  a  second  Mar- 
shal Wade,  employed  them  in  cutting  and  carving 
their  way  over  the  mountains,  to  so  great  an  extent , 
that  it  would  occupy  many  days  now,  to  drive  over 
all  the  highways  and  byways  they  formed.  One 
very  rare  species  of  tree  was  pointed  out  during  our 
drive,  "  The  gallows  tree,"  on  which  the  chief  of  the 
clan  Farquharson,  without  thinking  it  necessary  to 
consult  any  jury,  exercised  the  privilege  of  suspend- 
ing his  retainers  when  disobedient.  We  abandoned 
the  carriage  at  one  impossible  ascent,  and  scrambled 
up  to  admire  the  stream  of  the  Gan*awalt,  falhng  n 
a  loud,  roaring  cascade,  which  foamed  and  tumbled 
impetuously  onwards.  It  was  surmounted  by  a 
singularly  elegant  rustic  bridge  of  rough  stakes,  so 
very  light  and  insecure  looking,  that  some  visiters 
race  across  on  tiptoe,  expecting  it  to  snap  in  two. 
The  distant  effect  is  charming. 

In  a  tasteful  and  elegant  moss-house,  ^^•here  we 
sat  down  to  relieve  our  feelings  by  a  cannonade  of 
exclamations,  while  admiring  the  tormented  river 
tumbling  passionately  about  on  its  rocky  bed,  and 
then  passing  away,  like  the  course  of  time,  our  at- 
tention was  called  off  by  observing  that  the  whole 
roof  and  sides  of  this  retreat  had  been  grotesquely 
25 


290  MAR    LODGE. 

disfigured  by  a  party  of  strangers  from  Aberdeen, 
\vho  arrived  there  in  the  morning,  and  who  had 
most  ungraciously  occupied  their  time  in  spoihng 
this  romantic  seat,  by  strongly  fastening  up  with 
wires  tickets  exhibiting  their  own  insignificant 
names,  which  had  probably  never  appeared  else- 
where, except  on  a  shop-board. 

To-day  I  got  my  first  glimpse  of  Mar  Lodge. 
Its  best  friends  cannot  call  the  house  a  beauty,  being 
rather  of  the  cotton-mill  school,  but  as  Cinderella's 
sisters  observed  of  their  ugly  dresses,  "  to  make  up 
for  that,"  all  around  is  magnificent.  The  situation 
is  not  only  superb  for  natural  beauty,  but  also  for 
affording  every  variety  of  sport.  The  newspapers 
resound  each  successive  season  with  a  list  of  killed 
and  wounded  at  Mar  Lodge.  Among  grouse,  red- 
deer,  trout,  salmon,  and  every  living  creature  that 
has  the  misfortune  to  be  called  game,  or  that  it  is 
any  pleasure  to  kill,  I  suppose  more  deaths  take 
place  here  annually,  than  in  any  other  corner  of  the 
known  world.  Even  the  trees  at  Mar  Lodge  are 
slaughtered  on  a  great  scale  !  The  better  half  of 
this  venerable  forest,  once  the  ornament  of  Scotland, 
now  lies  prostrate  in  the  dust.  The  saw^-mill  has 
done  its  work,  and  a  few  hundreds  only  remain  to 
tell  of  the  thousands  that  are  no  more. 

As  a  colony  of  trouts  in  the  Bruar  once  employed 
Burns  to  write   a   poetical  complaint  of  wanting 


LYNN    OF    DEE.  291 

shade,  the  fish  in  the  Dee  should  engage  Campbell 
or  Wilson,  the  only  living  poets  of  Scotland  now, 
to  assist  them  with  a  few  verses.  It  is  curious  to 
observe  how  very  much  poetry  has  gone  out ;  and 
we  shall  soon  have  nothing  left  but  the  embers, 
unless  a  little  fresh  fuel  be  put  to  the  imaginations 
of  the  rising  generation. 

At  the  celebrated  Lynn  of  Dee,  this  capricious, 
frolicsome  stream  is  imprisoned  within  a  contracted 
chasm  of  rock,  and  rushes  out  like  splintered  light- 
ning, dashing  with  an  impetuous  violence,  the  thun- 
dering sound  of  which  can  be  heard  nearly  a  mile 
off.  This  need  scarcely  be  w^ondered  at,  when  we 
see  a  broad  river  decanted  through  a  narrow  neck 
of  solid  stone,  which  so  nearly  meets  over  the  top, 
that  many  fool-hardy  people  have  leaped  across. 
When  driving  towards  the  Lynn,  I  had  observed, 
for  about  two  miles,  a  ragged  boy  racing  at  full 
speed  after  the  carriage;  and  at  this  moment  he 
hastily  descended  towards  the  gorge,  with  an  evi- 
dent intention  to  exhibit  before  us,  by  taking  this 
desperate  leap.  We  most  peremptorily  summoned 
the  little  urchin  back,  at  which  he  seemed  consider- 
ably astonished,  having  been  accustomed  to  receive 
a  premium,  rather  than 'a  reprimand,  from  tourists, 
for  risking  life  and  limb,  to  afford  them  diversion, 
but  I  would  have  given  him  double  price  to  be  sta- 
tionary. 


292  LYNN   OF   DEE. 

The  fust  chief  of  the  clan  Farquharson  was 
drowned  here ;  and  no  one  seeing  the  frightful  pool, 
supposed  by  the  country  people  to  be  bottomless, 
could  fancy  that  a  bone  of  his  body  remained  un- 
broken. A  poor  man  last  month,  who  succeeded  in 
springing  over,  missed  his  aim  in  attempting  to 
return,  and  fell  back  into  the  foaming  caldron ! 
Now,  what  do  you  think  was  the  consequence  ? 
"  Drowned  of  course  !"  No  !  by  a  sort  of  miracle, 
he  was  washed  on  to  a  rock  perfectly  unhurt,  and 
lives  to  tell  the  tale  himself. 

Last,  not  least,  Lord  Byron  very  nearly  died 
here  in  a  manner  worthy  of  his  poetical  taste. 
Some  heather  having  tripped  up  his  lame  foot,  he 
rolled  helplessly  down  towards  the  precipice,  but  on 
the  very  brink  of  destruction,  he  was  preserved  by 
an  attendant,  who  with  difficulty  saved  his  life — 
that  life,  a  scene  of  so  much  fiery  passion  and  intense 
agony,  that  he  could  scarcely  afterwards  rejoice  at 
its  having  been  prolonged.  The  world's  loud 
plaudits  could  not  drown  the  still  small  voice  of  an 
inward  monitor,  the  witness  for  God  in  every  mortal 
mind,  reminding  us  that  nothing  on  this  earth  can 
suffice  for  happiness  3  and  the  more  intellect  or  sen- 
sibility frail  man  may  be  gifted  with,  the  more 
empty,  vain,  and  disappointing  to  his  never-dying 
spirit  w^ill  appear  the  vanishing  pleasures  of  time. 
That  the  solemn    and  unspeakable  importance  of 


LYNN    OF    DEE.  293 

Christianity  was  at  one  period  impressed  on  the 
mind  of  Lord  Byron  himself,  may  be  hoped,  from 
reading  the  well-known  lines  inscribed  on  his  own 
Bible : 

Within  this  awful  volume  lies 
The  mystery  of  mysteries. 
Happiest  they  of  human  race, 
To  whom  their  God  has  giren  grace, 
To  read,  to  fear,  to  hope,  to  pray, 
To  lift  the  latch,  to  force  the  way  ; 
And  better  had  they  ne'er  been  born, 
Than  read  to  doubt— or  read  to  scorn. 


25^ 


BLAIRGOWRIE 


Panting  time  toils  after  us  in  vain. 

JOIINSOX. 

Mv  DEAR  Cousin,  —  Wherever  travellers  are 
going,  if  there  be  a  particularly  bad  road,  narrow 
and  hilly,  without  parapets,  bridges,  or  inns,  you 
may  feel  certain  that  for  some  insuperable  reason, 
they  ought  to  prefer  it,  and  accordingly,  though  we 
were  recommended  for  comfort  to  proceed  from 
Invercauld  by  the  Blairgowrie  road,  I  exceedingly 
wished  to  have  gone  up  Glen  Tilt,  that  we  might 
see  how  dreary  and  wild  the  world  would  have 
been  without  inhabitants.  There  the  long  desolate 
ridges  of  Scarsochare  35000  feet  high,  the  hill  of 
Ben-na-muich-duidh  has  a  name  all  but  unpro- 
nounceable, and  the  forest  of  Dalmore  is  noted  as 
producing  the  finest  natm'al  pine  trees  in  Europe, 
both  in  respect  to  their  size,  and  the  quality  of  the 
timber.  Some  of  these  trees  measure  from  eighty  to 
ninety  feet  in  height,  without  a  lateral  branch,  their 
diameter  at  the  base  being  four  feet  and  a  half,  but 
in  spite  of  all  these  attractions,  and  fifty  more  be- 
sides, we  submitted  to  advice,  and  plodded  on 
towards  Blairgowrie, 


CRAIGHALL.  295 

My  miseries  began  with  a  ford  across  the  Dee, 
v.-hich  had  been  for  several  days  before  impassable, 
but  the  post-boy  from  Castleton  of  Braemar  pro- 
tested we  might  venture  through,  so  I  closed  my 
eyes  to  avoid  being  frightened,  and  could  not  but 
remember  at  that  moment,  the  not  very  consoling 
advice  of  a  servant  once  in  similar  circumstances,  to 
his  master,  "  If  it  comes  to  the  worst,  Sir !  hold 
down  your  head,  and  drown  as  fast  as  possible  !" 

There  was  once  upon  a  time  a  public-spirited 
Lord  Breadalbane,  who  erected  thirty-two  stone 
bridges,  and  if  any  one  ever  proposes  a  monument 
to  his  memory,  my  subscription,  after  this  day's  ex- 
perience, shall  be  doubled.  Bridges  are  certainly 
most  convenient  things,  but  those  along  this  road 
are  so  singularly  narrow,  that  you  might  fancy  the 
carriage  wheels  had  been  exactly  measured,  so  as  to 
graze  the  parapet  on  both  sides.  I  must  attend, 
however,  to  the  grateful  old  proverb,  "  Let  every 
one  praise  the  bridge  he  goes  over." 

The  Spittal  of  Glen  Shea, — or  rather  the  Hos- 
pital, as  it  used  to  be  called,  was  our  first  stage,  and 
after  having  driven  through  a  wild  looking  desert, 
we  here  found  a  green  expanse  of  excellent  pasture, 
with  something  that  called  itself  an  inn,  where  a 
covey  of  Irish  sportsmen  annually  assemble  for  the 
shooting  season,  and  occupy  the  best  rooms.  It  is 
surprising  that  gentlemen  do  not  oftener  pitch  a 


296  BLAIRGOWRIE. 

tent  upon  the  moors,  which  would  be  attended  with 
the  most  romantic  degree  of  discomfort.  A  party 
came  to  Scotland  some  years  ago  in  this  Arab  fash- 
ion, and  they  brought,  moreover,  a  long  narrow 
carriage,  which  could  be  metamorphosed  occasion- 
ally into  a  boat.  Thus  they  lived,  according  to  the 
beau-ideal  of  Lord  Byron,  "  My  tent  on  shore,  my 
galley  on  the  sea." 

Craighall  showed  itself  for  a  few  moments  as 
we  passed,  a  romantic  old  castle,  which  had  once 
the  honour  of  being  besieged  by  an  Earl  of  Athol, 
who  had  married  a  daughter  of  the  Rattray  family, 
and  intended,  by  killing  all  the  male  representatives 
of  that  house,  to  bring  in  his  wife  as  the  heiress,  but 
he  had  no  more  success  than  he  deserved,  as  the 
gentlemen  proved  "  too  many  for  him." 

After  pausing  at  the  gay  pretty  towm  of  Blair- 
gowrie, we  skirted  along  a  complete  chain  of  small 
lakes — or  lakelets — not  very  illustrious  for  beauty. 
In  the  loch  of  Clunie,  almost  rising  out  of  the 
water,  stands  an  old  castle,  scarcely  deserving  a 
second  glance,  till  you  hear  that  it  claims  the  hon- 
our to  have  been  the  birth-place  of  the  Admirable 
Crichton,  the  wonder  of  his  age,  and  of  every  sub- 
sequent age  besides.  I  sometimes  wish  a  scale 
could  be  invented  for  measuring  the  extent  and 
depth  of  men's  attainments — not  as  they  seem  to 
others,  or  are  estimated  by  themselves,  but  according 


DUxNKELD    CATHEDRAL.  297 

to  the  real  weight  of  metal  they  carry.  How  grand 
and  unexpected  the  sum  total  would  appear  in  some 
cases,  and  how  marvellously  others,  who  fill  up  a 
large  space  in  the  public  eye,  w^ould  shrink  to  an 
atom ;  but  such  a  genius  as  the  Admirable  Crichton, 
w^ould  then,  perhaps,  be  found  to  outweigh  a  whole 
college. 

We  drove  at  length  through  the  lofty  barriers 
of  the  King's  Pass,  which  forms  a  grand  entrance  to 
Dunkeld,  and  arrived  to  dinner  at  Grant's  very 
beautifully  situated  inn,  near  one  end  of  the  bridge, 
where  the  broad,  deep,  majestic  Tay  floats  beneath 
the  windows,  clear  as  the  glass  through  which  we 
were  gazing  at  it.  I  cannot  but  wonder  that  any 
traveller  can  ever  tear  himself  away  from  this  en- 
chanting neighbourhood  in  less  than  a  month,  he 
must  find  so  much  to  enjoy  in  strolling  through  the 
Duke's  magnificent  grounds,  where  the  thing  per- 
haps most  to  be  admired  of  all,  is  the  liberality  with 
which  they  are  thrown  open,  so  that  any  tourist 
may  feel  here,  as  if  he  had  suddenly  succeeded  to  a 
large  estate  of  his  own,  and  were  come  to  enjoy  it. 

The  old  Cathedral  of  Dunkeld,  founded  by  Rob- 
ert Bruce's  protege  Bishop  Sinclair,  five  hundred 
years  ago,  stands  within  the  grounds,  and  is  consid- 
ered quite  an  architectural  gem,  being  a  curious 
omnium  gather'em  of  various  styles,  forming  a  beau- 
tiful whole,  though  sketchers  and  engravers  have 


298  DUNKELU   CATHEDRAL. 

made  sad  havoc  of  its  graceful  Saxon  and  Norman 
arches.  Most  of  the  building  is  a  mere  shell,  but 
we  attended  Divine  service  in  the  choir,  which  is 
yet  in  its  premier  jeunesse,  on  Sunday,  and  observed 
a  handsome  marble  tablet,  raised  by  the  congrega- 
tion in  testimony  of  heartfelt  and  unanimous  regret 
for  the  death  of  their  pious  and  beloved  clergyman, 
Mr.  Robb,  drowned  on  board  the  Forfarshire  steam- 
vessel,  some  months  ago.  In  reading  their  expres- 
sions of  deep  lamentation,  I  could  not  but  remember 
that  this  excellent  man,  when  presented  to  the 
Church  two  years  ago,  encountered  a  universal  veto, 
and  the  very  doors  were  barricadoed  against  him, 
by  the  identical  persons  now  so  entirely  conciliated 
by  his  extraordinary  zeal  and  ability.  The  patron 
has  since  presented  this  living  to  Mr.  Mackenzie, 
who  at  once  rendered  himself  acceptable  to  the 
whole  parish,  and  it  is  confidently  anticipated,  that 
patronage  will  again  be  honoured  in  its  protege. 

None  of  the  parishioners  attempted  a  veto  on 
this  occasion,  with  or  without  rendering  a  reason, 
and  I  hope  it  may  be  long  before  here  or  elsewhere, 
it  shall  become  a  sufficient  cause  for  rejecting  a 
clergyman,  to  repeat  those  well-known  lines,  which 
used,  at  one  time,  to  be  reckoned  rather  ridiculous  j 

I  do  not  like  thee,  Dr.  Fell, 
The  reason  why  1  cannot  tell  ; 
But  I  do  not  like  thee,  Dr.  Fell. 


DUNKELD.  299 

A  very  fine  statue,  representing  the  late  Duke 
of  Atholl,  stands  in  the  chancel  of  this  cathedral, 
dressed  in  his  robes  of  state,  and  extremely  hke, 
though  merely  copied  from  a  small  portrait  of  Land- 
seer's,  by  an  artist  who  never  saw  his  Grace.  Close 
beside  it,  w^e  perceived  a  very  handsome  monument 
to  the  Marquis  of  Atholl,  emblazoned  wath  the  quar- 
terings  of  his  many  great  connections,  and  few  fam- 
ilies ever  had  more  to  boast  of,  as  they  were  once 
related  to  every  crow'ned  head  in  Europe,  except 
the  Grand  Signior. 

The  climate  here  must  be  tolerably  healthy,  as 
there  used  to  be  at  Dunkeld  "  an  eighty-four  club," 
no  member  being  eligible  till  he  attained  that  age. 
The  late  Duke  used  to  say,  that  w^hen  young  he 
made  walks,  and  when  old  he  made  rides  over  the 
hills  of  Dunkeld,  and  both  have  now  been  most 
effectually  done,  as  the  greatest  pedestrian  might 
fatigue  himself  here,  perambulating  over  the  eighty 
miles  of  gravel  walks  and  drives  !  It  must  require 
a  Bank  of  England  revenue  to  keep  the  place  in 
such  admirable  order !  I  scarcely  knew  how  to 
stop  my  peregrinations,  for  every  turn  of  the  w^ay 
disclosed  some  new^  and  incomparable  beauty  in  the 
landscape.  My  feeling  was  like  yours  when  inter- 
ested in  some  very  engrossing  novel,  every  page 
rendering  it  more  impossible  to  leave  off.  Mile 
after  mile  leads  you  on  to  more  fascinating  scenes, 


300  DUNKELB. 

and  every  step  discovers  something  not  anticipated 
before.  In  one  day  the  wearied  guide  led  us,  at  a 
sort  of  race-horse  pace,  to  Ossian's  Hall,  and  we 
climbed  successively  to  the  summit  of  Craig  Vinian 
and  Craigybarns,  yet  I  felt  as  if  we  had  done 
nothing!  Like  Lord  Chatham,  we  "  trampled  on 
impossibilities,"  and  after  walking  sixteen  miles  up 
and  down  hill,  I  could  have  begun  it  all  over  again 
with  pleasure,  if  the  daylight  had  only  been  pro- 
longed. 

The  grounds  of  Dunkeld  are  supposed  to  exhibit 
nearly  the  most  beautiful  specimen  of  landscape  gar- 
dening in  Europe,  being  as  well  wooded  and  highly 
dressed  as  any  in  England,  with  the  advantage  of  a 
broad  rapid  torrent  like  the  Tay  glittering  among 
the  forests,  and  the  towering  rocks  and  mountains 
adding  grandeur  and  dignity  to  their  singular  beauty. 
A  curious  contrast  may  be  remarked  between  the 
wild  untameable  magnificence  of  His  Grace's  more 
Highland  residence  at  Blair,  and  the  rich  verdant 
fertility  of  Dunkeld.  No  expense  was  spared  to 
embelhsh  both ;  and  as  long  as  we  have  national 
vanity  or  national  taste,  all  Scotland  must  gratefully 
remember,  that  those  scenes  were  adorned,  not  for 
himself  alone,  but  for  the  use  and  enjoyment  of  all 
who  possessed  eyes  to  admire  them.  Many  a  de- 
lightful hour  has  been  spent  in  the  groves  and  gar- 
dens of  Dunkeld,  by  strangers  of  all  classes,  and 


DUNKELD.  301 

of  all  nations,  welcomed  as  if  they  had  been  the 
Duke's  own  relatives ;  and  it  is,  indeed,  a  privilege 
to  ramble  at  large  among  the  secluded  walks,  the 
gigantic  trees,  the  flowers,  the  arbours,  the  river's 
banks,  and  though  last,  not  least,  the  hills  covered 
to  their  summits  wdth  larch.  That  was  well  known 
to  be  the  Duke's  favourite  tree,  of  which  he  planted 
twenty  thousand  acres  ;  and  a  Perthshire  gentleman 
once  remarked,  that  though  the  county  could  not 
boast  of  an  Arch-Duke,  they  had  at  any  rate  a  Larch- 
Duke.  AMien  Wilkes  came  to  this  neighbourhood 
he  protested  that  "  the  greatest  vagary  of  Shak- 
speare's  fancy  was,  to  imagine  a  wood  on  Birnham 
Hill,  where  there  never  was  a  shrub."  Certainly 
when  the  trees  marched  to  Dunsinane  they  were 
very  long  of  returning,  as  that  mountain  used  to 
stand  conspicuously  bare  among  its  wooded  neigh- 
bours, like  a  great  hay-stack  in  a  garden,  but  the 
taste  of  the  late  Sir  John  Stewart  of  Murthly  has 
enriched  the  scene  by  covering  it  with  thriving 
plantations. 

Last  time  we  were  here,  A had  the  amuse- 
ment of  lionizing  the  present  Duke  of  Orleans  all 
over  these  grounds,  after  which  we  dined  in  his 
company  with  the  Duke  of  Atholl,  w^ho  made  a 
speech  to  his  royal  guest,  saying  he  had  formerly 
raised  five  hundred  men  to  make  war  on  foreign 
enemies,  but  he  was  now  employing  an  equal  num-- 
26 


302  DUNKELD. 

ber  in  preparing  a  residence,  where,  if  he  did  not 
live  to  practise  hospitality  himself,  he  trusted  it 
would  be  done  by  those  who  came  after  him.  He 
finished  by  proposing  the  health  and  prosperity  of 
Charles  the  Tenth,  who  had  visited  him  at  Blair 
during  banishment  from  France,  when  the  last 
words  he  said  to  the  royal  prince  at  taking  leave 
w- ere,  "  The  kindest  wish  I  can  offer  your  Highness 
is,  that  I  may  never  see  you  here  again." 

The  employment  afforded  to  his  tenantry  by  the 
Duke  of  Atholl,  became  a  source  of  so  much  opu- 
lence and  comfort  to  all  around  him,  that  his  death 
was  felt  as  a  family  misfortune  in  every  cottage  on 
his  w^ide  domains.  Five  hundred  men  were  em- 
ployed till  the  hour  of  his  decease,  in  building  that 
palace  of  almost  royal  splendour,  which  will  prob- 
ably never  now  be  finished.  When  the  news 
arrived  of  his  Grace's  demise,  a  mournful  dispersion 
of  the  work  people  instantly  took  place,  and  from 
that  hour  not  a  stroke  has  been  heard  among  the 
deserted  walls.  A  more  strange  and  melancholy 
spectacle  than  it  now  presents,  you  can  scarcely 
imagine.  It  is  not  a  ruin  !  it  is  not  a  house  !  all 
seems  fresh,  new,  and  magnificent,  yet  in  the  sur- 
rounding desolation,  you  feel  conscious  that  some 
great  calamity  has  occurred,  and  speak  almost  in 
w'hispers,  while  pointing  to  the  splendid  arches, 
windows,  and  doors,  some  of  which  have  been  tern- 


DUXKELD.  303 

porarily  closed  in  for  protection, — the  half-chiselled 
stones,  the  bare  red  bricks,  and  the  workmen's  sheds 
surrounded  by  long  grass  and  weeds,  which  grow 
all  untrodden  in  the  deep  solitude  and  silence  of  this 
death-like  scene. 

The  Duke,  during  his  life,  caused  a  small  glass 
pavilion,  like  a  lantern,  to  be  erected  near  the  new 
palace,  in  w^hich  he  sat  for  hours  every  day,  watch- 
ing the  growth  of  this  noble  pile ;  and  having 
taken  an  English  stranger  once  there,  he  laughed 
at  his  guest's  long  reach  of  imagination,  who  ex- 
claimed, on  beholding  what  looked  like  the  founda- 
tions of  a  city,  "  This  will  be  a  noble  ruin  hereafter  I" 
Little  did  his  Grace  or  the  admiring  visiter  then 
foresee  how  nearly  that  hour  was  at  hand,  when  the 
rain  and  the  wdnd  would  beat  unheeded  through 
these  roofless  untenanted  apartments  !  A  few  short 
months  would  have  completed  this  promising  young 
palace,  now  so  prematurely  cut  off.  Two  floors  are 
nearly  finished,  as  well  as  a  gallery  ninety-six  feet 
long,  besides  an  elegant  private  chapel,  a  spacious 
staircase,  and  several  noble  gothic  windows,  which 
were  to  have  been  emblazoned  with  all  the  family 
shields  and  quarterings,  carved  in  stone. 

We  were  shown  a  miniature  model  which  cost 
^£500,  of  the  whole  edifice.  Will  any  future  Ala- 
din  arise  to  accomplish  the  whole  of  this  superb  plan? 
If  so,  the  power  of  stone  and  lime  could  no  further  go ! 


304  DUNKELD. 

We  traced  real  genius  in  the  bold  variety,  as  well 
as  in  the  graceful  arrangement  of  the  whole  out- 
line, and  I  must  say,  that  the  architect,  Mr.  Hopper, 
may  go  proudly  down  to  posterity,  carrying,  as  evi- 
dences of  his  taste,  Penorhn  Castle  in  one  hand,  and 
Dunkeld  Palace  in  the  other !  What  profession  in 
the  world  can  compare  to  that  of  an  architect  for 
leaving  permanent  memorials  behind  !  Sir  Chiis- 
topher  Wren  will  need  no  monument  as  long  as  St. 
Paul's  keeps  its  place ;  a  marble  tablet  could  add 
little  to  the  celebrity  of  Inigo  Jones ;  and  who  can 
ever  forget  Sir  William  Adams,  while  the  barracks 
on  Edinbrn^gh  Castle  continue  to  be  frightful  1 

It  is  a  singular  coincidence  in  this  neighbourhood, 
that  the  twin-houses  of  Muithly  and  Dunkeld,  which 
were  in  progress  at  the  same  time,  have  both  lost 
their  founders,  and  remained  ever  since  desolate  and 
forlorn,  though  Murthly,  with  its  towers  crowned  by 
glittering  weather-co  cks,  and  its  temporary  windows 
of  painted  w^ood,  puts  a  much  more  cheerful  face 
upon  the  matter  than  this  extensive  young  ruin.  We 
daily  experienced  how  wise  and  merciful  an  appoint- 
ment it  is,  that  no  one  can  tell  the  year  or  the  hour 
when  his  labours  on  earth  shall  for  ever  cease.  All 
exertion  would  at  once  be  paralyzed  in  such  a  case, 
and  it  requires  energy  of  mind  certainly  in  those  who 
cannot  reckon  on  a  day,  to  begin  what  must  occupy 
years  to   complete.     "  Man  proposes  and  God  dis- 


KILLIECRANKIE.  305 

poses ;"  but  we  seem  best  to  fulfil  the  intentions  of 
Providence,  when  each  individual  continues  active 
and  diligent  in  his  own  vocation  ;  and  few  have  left 
greater  memorials  behind  them  than  the  late  Duke 
of  Atholl,  whose  forests,  bridges,  roads,  and  houses, 
w^iile  they  ornamented  his  estate,  spread  industry 
and  cheerfulness,  where  formerly  there  had  been 
idleness  and  w^ant.  A  great  political  economist  has 
discovered  that  the  prosperity  of  a  country  depends 
on  every  man  exerting  himself  in  the  utmost  degree 
to  promote  his  own  interest,  and  while  the  Duke 
metamorphosed  his  own  barren  heaths  into  fruitful 
fields,  he  also  changed  an  indolent  peasantry  into 
active,  diligent,  and  happy  labourers. 

The  attachment  his  Grace  inspired  was  such, 
that  the  Highlanders  w^ould  admit  nothing  that  they 
thought  to  his  prejudice,  and  w^hen  a  stranger  for- 
merly asked  one  of  the  Duke  of  Atholl's  foresters, 
if  his  master  spoke  Gaelic,  the  man,  having  recently 
returned  from  attending  his  Grace  in  a  shooting  ex- 
cui-sion  to  the  hill  of  Keichnacaapex,  confidently 
replied,  "  Och,  yes  !  the  Duke  speaks  Gaelic  fine ! 
'Twas  only  t'other  day,  when  I  was  following  him 
to  the  hills,  his  Grace  turned  round  to  me,  and 
pointed  with  his  finger,  saying,  *  Keichnacaapex ^ 
Donald  /'     Och,  yes  !  he  speaks  Gaelic  fine  !" 

The  weather  was  as  beautiful  as  the  scenery, 
when  we  drove  next  morning  towards  the  noble 
26* 


306  KILLIECRANKIE. 

hills  and  castle  of  Blair-Athol,  along  miles  of 
aged  ash  trees,  oaks,  and  beeches,  admiring  and 
criticising  a  rapid  succession  of  beautiful  seats,  and, 
to  sum  up  all,  threading  through  the  very  essence 
of  Highland  beauty,  the  pass  of  I^lliecrankie,  which 
every  individual  should  see,  who  has  an  eye  in  his 
head.  The  landscape  is  so  enchanting,  I  could 
scarcely  believe  my  eyes  when  I  looked  at  it.  How 
many  of  our  countrymen  once  expired  on  this  battle- 
field !  and  it  might  almost  add  a  pang  to  death  itself, 
when  the  eye  gazed  its  last  on  scenes  so  bright  and 
attractive.  The  rapid  Garry  roaring  fiercely  along 
its  rocky  bed,  the  cultivated  fields,  the  wooded  hills, 
the  towering  mountains,  the  gay  little  gardens,  and 
the  recriment  of  villas,  are  beautiful  enouo;h  to  make 
one  dream  for  a  moment,  in  spite  of  precept  and  ex- 
perience, that  there  might  be  such  a  thing  on  earth 
as  perfect  happiness.  In  the  most  romantic  part  of 
this  magnificent  glen  stands  an  old  gray  stone, 
raised  in  memory  of"  The  bloody  Claverhouse,"  as 
one  party  name  him,  and  "  The  bold  Dundee,"  as 
others  insist  he  should  be  called,  who  died  here, 
like  Nelson,  in  the  moment  of  victory,  both  con- 
quering and  conquered.  It  was  an  amusing  scene 
which  took  place  once,  when  a  very  aged  Lady 
Elphinstone  being  introduced  to  Claverhouse,  he 
politely  remarked  to  her,  "  You  must  have  seen  many 
ii;iteresting  things  in  your  day,  Madam  ?"   To  which 


LUDE.  307 

she  drily  answered, '-  'Deed  no,  Sir,  except  when  I 
was  young,  that  we  had  one  Knox  deaving  us  wi' 
his  clavers,  and  now^  we  have  a  Clavers  deaving  us 
W'i'  his  knocks !" 

In  the  most  romantic  part  of  our  drive,  we  met 
an  elegant  young  lady,  in  a  riding  habit,  hat  and 
green  veil,  mounted — no !  not  on  horseback,  but  on 
the  top  of  the  mail !  clinging  to  the  coach-box,  and 
gazing  about,  evidently  in  so  fine  a  frenzy  of  delight 
that,  could  poetry  possibly  be  inspired  on  the  top  of 
a  coach,  she  had  certainly  found  a  rhyme, — at  least 
if  there  be  one  in  the  world, — for  Killiecrankie. 

Among  the  fine  plantations  at  Lude,  an  elegant 
new  house  is  rapidly  growing  up  a  la  Burn,  which 
promises  to  be  a  very  successful  hit.  The  spacious 
windows  command  a  superb  view  of  the  Garry  for 
several  miles,  and  of  many  rugged  hills,  with  totally 
unspellable  names.  Here  Mr.  M'Inroy  showed  us 
the  finest  bowling-green  I  ever  beheld,  on  w^hich  the 
lovers  of  bowls  and  other  "gymnastic  exercises" 
may  amuse  themselves.  Games  out  of  doors  seem 
so  wholesome  and  exhilirating,  that  the  old  grow- 
young,  and  the  young  forget  to  grow  old  when 
practising  them.  Active  habits  prolong  the  enjoy- 
ment of  boyish  spirits,  long  after  a  man  of  mere 
clubs  and  newspapers  has  subsided  into  his  fire-side 
arm-chair,  as  a  fixture  for  life,  and  every  man  who 
wishes  w^ell  to  himself,  should  cultivate  a  taste  for 


308  LUDE. 

whatever  energetic  amusement  takes  him  off  the 
hearth-rug.  A  clergyman  in  the  Highlands  lately 
objected  so  strongly  to  a  cricket-ground  being  es- 
tablished in  his  parish,  that  the  party  of  gentlemen 
who  had  begun  the  plan  relinquished  it,  but  if  more 
innocent  recreations  were  encouraged  for  all  classes 
in  Scotland,  there  would  probably  be  fewer  vices. 
It  is  amazing  how  creditably  some  persons  get 
through  their  lives,  without  exertion  of  any  kind, 
by  rising  late,  dozing  in  the  evening,  and  lounging 
all  day,  actually  doing  nothing ;  but  the  very  es- 
sence of  health  and  usefulness  is  found  in  the  activity 
with  which  we  devote  a  due  portion  of  time  to  all 
things  that  can  lawfully  occupy  it,  not  allowing  re- 
laxation to  interfere  with  business,  and  least  of  all 
with  religion,  but  making  it  consistent  with  the  rest 
which  our  minds  require  for  entering  on  the  duties 
of  both. 

The  late  proprietor  of  Lude,  General  Robertson, 
who  waged  incessant  legal  warfare  against  the  late 
Duke  of  Atholl,  was  particularly  annoyed  at  his 
Grace  for  claiming  a  right  to  hunt  deer  over  all  this 
estate.  When  Prince  Leopold  visited  at  the  Castle 
of  Blair,  the  Duke  gave  his  vassal  warning  that  he 
intended  next  day  to  exercise  his  privilege  for  the 
entertainment  of  his  royal  guest.  Accordingly  the 
deer  were  driven  down,  and  every  thing  promised  a 
dehghtful  day's  sport,  when,  under  pretence  of  doing 


CASTLE    BLAIR.  309 

all  honour  to  the  illustrious  stranger,  the  General 
fired  off  a  grand  salute,  which  scattered  the  herd  to 
the  farthest  Hmit  of  the  forest. 

The  massive  old  Castle  of  Blair,  the  ancient 
fortalice  of  the  Earldom  of  Atholl,  has  seen  its  best 
days,  having  been  dismantled  in  1745  by  order  of 
government,  when  the  towers,  pinnacles,  and  battle- 
ments were  thrown  down,  and  the  elevation,  which 
was  seven  stories  high,  became  lowered  to  four, 
having  been  literally  beheaded.  Such  was  the 
thickness  of  these  venerable  walls,  and  the  adhesive- 
ness of  the  cement,  that  this  barbarous  act  could  only 
be  perpetrated  by  successive  explosions  of  gunpow- 
der, but  e\ery  thing  that  makes  a  castle  ornamental 
was  perseveringly  destroyed.  The  first  sensation  of 
tourists  on  beholding  this  once  pre-eminent  building, 
must  now  be  disappointment,  but  within,  sufficient  ac- 
commodation remains  for  the  exercise  of  princely  hos- 
pitality, and  one  of  the  apartments  is  embellished  by 
a  peculiarly  handsome  ornamented  ceiling. 

In  "the  '15,"  the  only  date  remembered  here 
except  the  "  '45,"  the  Duke  of  Atholl  took  the  safe 
side,  while  his  heir  apparent,  the  Marquis  of  Tulli- 
bardine,  zealously  engaged  himself  with  the  opposite 
party,  and  joined  the  Earl  of  Mar.  Having  been 
attainted,  he  took  refuge  in  France,  and  his  politic 
father  got  an  act  of  parliament  to  disinherit  him, 
securinc:  the  estate  and  title  to  the  next  brother. 


310  CASTLE    BLAIR. 

The  Marquis,  now  rendered  desperate,  became  so 
eager  in  the  cause,  that  four  years  afterwards  he 
joined  the  Spanish  invasion,  when,  being  defeated 
at  Glensheil,  a  high  price  was  offered  for  his  head, 
but  .he  escaped.  A  third  time,  in  '45,  he  joined  in 
that  attempt  which  ended  so  calamitously  for  him, 
but  so  happily  for  us  protestants,  long  life  to  us ! 
The  Marquis  made  his  escape  from  Culloden,  but 
his  horse  failing,  he  surrendered  in  broken  health 
and  spirits,  was  imprisoned  in  the  Tower  during 
the  rest  of  his  unlucky  days,  and  died  in  less  than  a 
month.  Who  does  not  feel  for  so  spirited  and  heroic 
a  nobleman,  who,  from  a  mistaken  sense  of  duty, 
forfeited  his  birthright  as  Duke  of  Atholl  in  Scot- 
land, Sovereign  Lord  of  Man,  and  Lord  Strange  in 
England !  When  the  Castle  of  Blair  became,  during 
his  life,  the  property  of  his  junior  brother  the  Duke, 
it  was  attacked  by  a  still  younger  brother,  Lord 
George  Murray,  but  withstood  the  siege  successfully. 
The  fortifications  were  again  proved  invulnerable 
during  the  celebrated  defence  of  them,  made  with  a 
mere  handful  of  men,  by  Sir  Andrew  Agnew ;  but 
it  was  at  last  finally,  as  we  have  seen,  cashiered, 
broke,  disarmed,  and  dismissed  His  Majesty's  ser- 
vice. 

The  lucky  Duke  who  had  superseded  his  elder 
brother,  acquired  also,  in  a  somewhat  questionable 
way,  the  estate  of  his  cousin  Lord  Nairn,  who  be- 


CASTLE    BLAIR.  311 

came  ruined  in  the  Stuart  cause.  A  general  under- 
standing prevailed  in  those  days,  that  when  a  for- 
feited estate  was  put  up  to  auction,  a  friend  ought  to 
bid  for  the  proprietor,  and  no  rival  should  compete, 
that  it  might  thus  be  restored  literally  for  an  old 
song.  The  Duke,  as  head  of  the  family,  stood  osten- 
sibly forward,  got  the  property  knocked  down  to 
himself  for  a  trifle,  and  having  a  good  notion  what 
a  bargain  means,  either  made  no  previous  agree- 
ment mth  Lord  Nairn,  or  did  not  find  his  cousin's 
money  forthcoming,  so,  one  way  or  other,  Strath- 
aird, near  Perth,  has  remained  stationary  w^ith  the 
Dukes  of  Atholl  ever  since,  and  is  likely  to  con- 
tinue so. 

Lord  George  Murray,  whom  I  already  men- 
tioned, was  forfeited  for  the  Glensheil  affair,  but  par- 
doned, and  afterwards  perseveringly  joined  in  the 
attempt  of  '45,  when  he  became  Prince  Charles's 
Lieutenant-General.  He  was  again  attainted,  but 
dying  before  his  brother  the  Duke,  his  son's  claim, 
as  heir  to  the  uncle,  w^as  ingeniously  carried  through 
the  House  of  Lords,  by  means  of  the  great  Lord 
Mansfield ;  and  having  married  his  uncle's  only 
daughter, "  the  Lady  of  Man  and  Baroness  Stramge," 
their  son  became  the  late  Duke,  of  honourable  mem- 
ory. You  will  think  I  have  torn  a  leaf  out  of 
Burke  or  Debrett  this  morning,  but  I  do  like  to  un- 
ravel and  wind  up  the  long  line  of  an  ancient  fam- 


312  CASTLE    BLAIE. 

ily,  especially  when  standing  on  the  spot  which  has 

been  commemorated  by  their  deeds  from  age  to  age. 

In  case  the  Herald  King  at  Arms  should  become 

jealous  of  my  poaching  on  his  manor,  I  shall  now 

conclude,  however  by  referring  you  to  the  History 

of  Scotland,  where  "  for  further  particulars  inquire 

within." 

The  editor  of  a  fashionable  magazine  having 

said,  when  reviewing  a  lady's  book  lately,  that  he 
could  not  help  falling  asleep  over  it,  was  surprised 
to  receive,  some  days  afterwards,  an  elegant  night- 
cap, with  her  best  regards,  and  I  might  as  w^ell  en- 
close one  to  you  now,  in  case  of  accidents,  as  this 
last  epistle  is  rather  a  heavy  article,  and  may  prove 
equally  somniferous. 


LOGIE  RAIT. 

I  won't  describe — description  is  ray  forte ; 

But  ev'ry  fool  describes  in  these  bright  days.    Byron 

My  dear  Cousin, — This  letter  is  begun  inside  the 
trunk  of  an  ash  tree  at  Logic  Rait,  measuring  fifty- 
three  feet  in  circumference,  and  here  I  should  like 
to  imprison  for  hfe  all  travellers  who  deny  that 
Scotland  can  produce  fine  timber.  Another  of 
nearly  equal  magnitude  stands  on  the  opposite  side 
of  a  broad  river,  and  A is  at  this  moment  boat- 
ing across  to  do  homage  at  its  shrine,  while  a  dis- 
tant glimpse  quite  satisfies  my  enthusiasm.  I  would 
not  wish  to  be  censorious  on  other  countries,  or 
very  partial  to  my  own,  but  the  ash  trees  at  Rich- 
mond might  be  placed  in  a  flower-pot  beside  these ! 

The  road  from  Blair  in  this  direction,  crossing  at 
the  Bridge  of  Pitlochry,  is  as  up  and  down,  as  narrow, 
and  as  totally  without  parapets,  as  if  we  were  travel- 
ling round  the  rim  of  several  great  mill-wheels,  but 
we  had  a  pair  of  worthy  old  Dobbins  to  draw  us,  and 
it  became  well  worth  the  fright  to  see  so  lovely  a 
country,  though,  if  we  had  encountered  cart  or  carri- 
age, we  should  have  been  like  the  Highlanders  meet- 
ing on  a  plank,  one  or  the  other  must  have  gone  over, 

I  am  weary  of  admiring!  something  superla- 
tively ugly  would  be  almost  a  relief  to  the  eye,  but 
27 


314  LOGIE    RAIT. 

that  is  not  to  be  had  in  Perthshire.  Our  post-boy 
was  remarkably  attentive  in  pointing  his  whip  to- 
wards every  object  peculiarly  deserving  of  notice, 
and  at  one  place  I  was  about  to  extemporize  a 
very  sentimental  story  for  an  exceedingly  romantic 
and  really  elegant  villa  to  which  he  directed  our 
notice,  when  he  spoiled  all  by  mentioning  that  it 
had  been  bought  as  the  rural  retreat  of  a  well- 
known  hotel-keeper  and  coach-proprietor  in  Edin- 
burgh, who  left  this  neighbourhood  w^hen  a  boy, 
with  only  half-a-crown  in  his  pocket,  and  who,  by 
persevering  industry,  gained  enough  to  return  here 
as  a  landed  proprietor.  He  must  greatly  have 
missed  the  mail  coaches,  and  did  not  long  survive 
this  experiment  of  rural  felicity,  the  estate  having 
descended,  on  his  death,  to  a  nephew. 

Here  the  hedges  of  brilliant  roses,  the  rocky 
precipices,  and  larch-covered  hills,  form  a  combina- 
tion of  indescribable  beauty,  varied  by  a  foaming 
stream,  which  gives  life  to  the  whole.  After  pass- 
ing Logic  Rait,  however,  the  country  became  more 
English,  with  rich  undulating  meadows,  massy  trees, 
corn  fields,  and  a  perfectly  level  road,  though  en- 
closed within  a  double  range  of  green  hills  and  ditto 
v/ooded.  We  now  passed  another  succession  of 
small  properties,  too  thickly  studded  to  be  extensive, 
in  consequence  of  which  it  has  been  humorously  re- 
marked of  one  place,  that  the  house  is  as  broad  as 


LOGIE    RAIT.  315 

the  estate.  These  residences  are  all  chiefly  inhab- 
ited by  the  royal  clan  of  Stewart.  When  the  pres- 
ent Duke  of  Orleans  overheard  some  Highlanders 
once,  in  a  steam-boat,  discussing  their  different  clans, 
he  came  good-humouredly  forward  and  said,  "  I  am 
of  a  greater  clan  than  any  of  you  I  I  am  a  Stuart !" 
The  historian  of  the  Highland  regiments.  General 
Stewart,  who  had  concentrated  many  branches  of 
the  family  in  his  own  person,  used  sometimes  to  be 
heard  reflecting,  in  a  truly  Celtic  tone,  on  the  alarm- 
ing diminution  of  the  still  numerous  clan,  saying, 
"  There's  very  few  Stewarts  in  the  country  now ! 
There's  Stewart  of  Garth  !  I'm  Stewart  of  Garth ! 
There's  Stewart  of  Drummacharry !  I'm  Stewart 
of  Drummacharry !  There's  Stewart  of  Kynnachan ! 
I'm  Stewart  of  Kynnachan  ! !"  The  letters  in  this 
neighbourhood  meet  with  so  odd  a  reception  when 
they  arrive,  that  I  do  not  intend  to  correspond  with 
any  of  the  inhabitants.  We  observed  at  Clochfoldie, 
and  other  places,  that  a  hollow  stone,  conspicuously 
white-washed,  is  built  into  the  park  wall,  contain- 
ing a  narrow  slit,  which  serves  as  a  letter-box,  and 
the  post-man,  running  along  the  road,  blows  a  blast 
on  his  horn  and  there  deposits  all  the  news  and 
gossip  of  the  day,  in  so  quiet  a  receptacle  that  the 
whole  packet  may  lie  dormant  for  weeks  till  some 
one  has  leisure  or  curiosity  to  extricate  it  from  this 
cold  imprisonment.  A  similar  plan  is  still  adopted 
in  the  eastern  parts  of  Yorkshire,  where  I  saw  last 


316  WEEM. 

year  something  which  resembled  a  lamp-post,  sta- 
tioned on  the  road-side  near  every  farm-house,  car- 
rying a  wooden  box  on  the  top  to  receive  the  family 
despatches.  Letters  have  lost  all  their  rank  and 
aristocracy  now,  by  the  abolition  of  franks,  which 
also  diminishes  the  importance  of  a  seat  in  Parlia- 
ment more  than  you  or  other  sensible  people  would 
believe.  The  first  thing  a  new  M.  P.  did  formerly, 
was  to  rehearse  the  pattern  of  his  frank,  how  to 
distort  his  hand-writing  so  that  the  signature  might 
be  sufficiently  unreadable,  and  whether  to  sign  it  in 
the  north-east  corner  of  his  cover,  or  in  the  south- 
west, or  to  arrange  it,  as  a  certain  M.  P.  did,  in  a 
semi-circle,  like  the  bow  of  a  Cupid.  We  never 
used  to  be  in  company  formerly  with  a  Member  of 
Parliament  at  dinner,  without  a  general  whisper 
being  circulated  round  the  room  that  an  opportunity 
had  at  last  occurred  for  securing  a  frank,  while  he 
had  a  daily  opportunity  of  conferring  favours  on 
ten  eager  applicants,  all  volubly  grateful  on  behalf 
of  themselves  and  their  country  correspondents  ; 
but  Members  of  Parliament  need  scarcely  learn  to 
write  now  unless  they  please. 

The  village  of  Weem  has  become  a  model  of 
cheerfulness  and  comfort  under  the  active  and  be- 
nevolent care  of  Sir  Neil  Menzies,  the  proprietor. 
Instead  of  pursuing  those  sudden  and  violent  schemes 
of  improvement  which,  even  when  successful,  occa- 
sion much  intermediate  distress,  he  has  gradually, 


WEEM.  317 

but  with  admirable  effect,  encouraged  industry,  and 
rebuilt  by  degrees,  as  the  old  tenants  died  or  removed, 
every  cottage  on  the  estate,  now  almost  unrivalled, 
for  its  thriving  well-ordered  aspect,  throughout  a 
circuit  of  many  miles.  We  were  told  that  Sir  Neil 
enables  his  tenantry  to  manufacture  the  whole  pro- 
duce of  their  farms  in  the  neighbourhood,  which  en- 
sures them  a  certain  market.  For  -this  purpose  he 
has  established  two  distilleries  to  consume  the  grain, 
and  besides,  to  dispose  of  the  wool,  a  most  success- 
ful carpet  manufactory^  w^hich  might  put  Kidder- 
minster out  of  countenance.  I  admired  particularly 
one  carpet  made  here,  which  displayed  the  colours 
of  the  Menzies'  tartan,  the  pattern  being  branches 
of  scarlet  geranium  on  a  white  ground. 

Not  a  drain  or  an  enclosure  seems  wanting  on  this 
vast  estate,  where  the  hedges  for  miles  around  are  like 
-walls  of  leaves,  and  the  cattle  appeared  of  such  first- 
rate  excellence,  that  I  heard  without  surprise  of  their 
having  gained  the  highest  prizes  in  succession  at  the 
cattle  shows  of  Stirling,  Aberdeen,  and  Inverness. 

The  extreme  attachment  of  the  people  here  to 
their  chief,  is  quite  of  the  old  school,  and  founded 
not  merely  on  ancient  associations,  but  on  the  daily 
and  hourly  experience  of  almost  parental  liberality 
and  kindness  in  promoting  the  interests,  and  even 
the  amusements  of  old  and  young,  which  are  en- 
couraged and  patronized  with  unceasing  attention 
27* 


318  CASTLE    MENZIES. 

to  their  happiness.  Here,  too,  the  sick  are  person- 
ally visited  and  assisted  with  such  unsparing  zeal, 
that  none  seem  neglected  in  the  wide  circuit  of  this 
very  extensive  estate.  I  was  particularly  interested 
in  seeing  an  old  man  of  ninety-eight,  a  pensioner 
of  the  family,  who  walks  daily  from  the  village  to 
the  castle  for  work,  and  seems  to  think  the  world 
could  scarcely  get  on  without  him,  and  least  of  all 
the  chief's  family ;  an  agreeable  delusion  in  which 
he  is  allowed  to  continue,  though  often  there  is  great 
difficulty  in  inventing  any  employment  suited  to  his 
very  limited  powers. 

Near  the  venerable  old  house  of  Castle  Menzies 
grow  the  finest  sycamore  trees  in  Scotland,  over- 
shadowing the  beautiful  park,  which  is  barricadoed 
round  with  wooded  hills  and  lofty  mountains.  Close 
behind  the  castle  rises  a  singularly  tall  abrupt  hill, 
almost  a  sheer  precipice  from  top  to  bottom,  and 
charmingly  varied  by  trees,  which  have  grappled 
hold  of  the  rocks,  and  manage,  in  a  w^ay  of  theii 
own,  to  keep  their  stations,  but  you  and  I  would  be 
very  sorry  for  ourselves,  if  we  seemed  as  precariously 
situated  as  many  of  them  are. 

Near  the  door  of  Castle  Menzies  may  be  seen 
"  The  Chieftain's  Stone,"  a  large  round  block  of 
granite,  weighing  more  than  I  venture  to  guess, 
which  the  next  heir,  on  succeeding  to  the  supremacy 
of  this  clan,  was  always  expected  to  carry  in  his 


CASTLE    MENZIES.  319 

arms  up  stairs  to  the  dining-room,  where  his  health 
was  drank.  It  would  be  almost  as  easy  to  lift  the 
house,  or  to  run  away  with  Schihallion  at  once ; 
but  if  this  achievement  would  have  puzzled  Hercu- 
les, there  is  a  Bacchanalian's  cup  in  the  Macleod 
family,  almost  equally  defying  ordinary  power, 
formed  to  contain  a  bottle  and  a  half  of  claret,  w^hich 
each  successive  chief  is  expected  to  drain  at  a 
draught.  I  think  such  an  achievement  would  have 
made  Bacchus  himself  become  mortal. 

Castle  Menzies  is  one  of  the  few  very  large  old 
houses  in  Perthshire, — "  Long  has  it  stood — still 
honoured  let  it  stand."  The  w^alls  are  ten  feet  thick, 
being  proof  against  the  assault  of  a  foe,  but  always 
open  to  a  friend,  as  the  scenery  around  is  not  more 
truly  Highland  than  the  welcome  within.  Some 
centuries  ago,  the  yet  more  ancient  family  residence 
stood  on  a  different  site,  but  the  clan  Menzies  hav- 
ing peacefully  assembled  once  in  great  numbers  for 
a  christening  festivity,  the  ancestor  of  Stewart  of 
Garth  marched  down  with  a  host  of  retainers,  be- 
sieged the  old  fortifications,  barricadoed  the  doors, 
and  set  fire  to  the  house,  on  which  occasion  a  hun- 
dred Menzies  perished !  Murder  was  committed  in 
those  days,  both  wholesale  and  retail,  particularly 
by  smoking,  but  in  many  Highland  cottages  now, 
the  inhabitants  appear  so  thoroughly  seasoned  with 
peat  and  tobacco,  that  it  would  be  no  easy  matter 


320  CASTLE    MENZIES. 

to  put  them  out  of  their  usual  atmosphere.  Many 
old  women  Ave  saw  during  our  tour,  who  looked 
themselves  like  cigars  ready  to  be  lighted. 

The  new  Castle,  if  it  can  be  called  new,  was 
built  in  1573,  by  the  same  architect  who  reared  one 
at  Taymouth,  since  razed  to  the  ground,  and  it  is 
said  that  these  two  edifices  occupied  eleven  years  in 
building.  An  elegant  modern  addition,  uniform  with 
the  old  edifice,  is  now  in  progress  under  the  eye  of 
Burn,  who  has  all  the  quarries  in  Scotland  at  work. 
The  windows  here  exhibit  very  handsome  gabled 
ornaments  on  the  exterior,  and  within  we  saw  closets 
cut  in  the  thickness  of  the  w^all,  quite  a  la  Mrs. 
RadclifFe.  After  the  family  papers  had  narrowly 
escaped  the  fire  and  ravages  consequent  on  Garth's 
attack,  they  were  deposited  here  in  a  safe,  like  that 
of  a  bank,  or  more  like  a  square  stone  wall,  entered 
by  a  trap  door  from  above,  and  inaccessible  to  fire, 
air,  earth,  or  water — as  secure,  in  short,  as  the  man- 
uscripts of  Pompeii. 

In  the  sitting-room  here,  the  embrasures  of  the 
windows  are  so  deep,  that  with  a  curtain  let  down, 
they  form  a  comfortable  and  commodious  apartment, 
so  cheerful  and  bright  sometimes,  I  could  fancy  my- 
self living  in  the  sun  itself,  though,  perhaps,  the 
cheerful  society  within  adds  a  beam  or  two  of  viva- 
city to  those  venerable  walls.  It  is  astonishing  in 
so  antique  a  Highland  residence  to  hear  nothing  of 


GLENLYON.  321 

a  ghost ;  Mr.  Burn  should  certainly  be  requested  to 

supply  the  deficiency  by  building  a  haunted  room, 

Where  the  curtains  will  shake  of  their  own  accord, 
And  the  raven  croak  at  the  window  board. 

Near  one  extremity  of  the  park  at  Castle  Men- 
zies,  the  Tay  and  the  Lyon  meet  in  a  scene  of  such 
marvellous  beauty,  that  I  sat  down  for  half-an  hour 
to  be  in  ecstasies,  and  to  pity  at  my  leisure  all  those 
who  live  elsewhere.  Through  a  long  range  of  richly 
cultivated  meadows,  these  two  broad  rivers  rush 
violently  into  each  other's  arms,  and  the  mountains 
are  all  gathered  round  to  witness  the  scene.  One 
tall  peak  of  Schihallion  had  caught  a  side  glimpse 
of  sunshine,  which  lighted  up  its  usually  frowning 
aspect,  and  the  waving  forests  on  every  neighbour- 
ing hill  were  tipped  with  golden  light. 

We  drove  seven  miles  through  the  narrow 
mountainous  vale  of  Glenlyon,  an  exqiusite  specimen 
of  Highland  beauty,  being  enlivened  by  the  sparkling 
river,  and  hemmed  in  by  hills  glowing  with  heather. 
It  might  have  made  a  schoolboy  tremble  to  see  how 
the  birches  were  waving  over  our  heads ;  and  here 
the  mountains  are  so  lofty  that  villages  lying  at  their 
base  are  three  or  four  months  every  year  without 
seeing  the  sun.  The  river  Lyon,  which  now  looked 
like  a  flood  of  light,  once  ran  red  with  the  blood  of 
the  slaughtered  Macgregors,  when,  after  a  fierce  con- 
flict, the  conquerors  washed  their  swords  in  the  stream. 

Not  a  feature  in  this  landscape  could  be  altered 


322  GLENLYON. 

without  injury,  and  a  painter  might  advantageously 
spend  his  whole  life  in  taking  views,  every  one  of 
which  would  appear  completely  different.  In  some 
places  you  seem  to  have  discovered  an  unknown 
world,  never  trod  by  human  footstep,  then  comes  an 
old  ruin,  hiding  its  decay  in  wreaths  of  ivy  and  roses, 
next  appears  a  smiling  village,  afterwards  a  long 
colonnade  of  superb  plane  or  ash  trees,  then  a  thriv- 
ing farm,  here  and  there  a  church;  and  the  old 
burjdng-ground  at  Fortingal,  is  particularly  interest- 
ing. Go  where  you  will,  "  we  cannot  leave  the 
footsteps  of  the  dead,"  and  I  often  think  how  strange 
it  is  to  consider,  that  for  several  thousand  years,  hun- 
dreds of  men  have  died  every  day,  and  hundreds  are 
as  regularly  born  to  succeed  them.  It  has  been  a 
long  and  ceaseless  procession  for  centuries,  from  the 
cradle  to  the  grave,  in  which  year  after  year  new 
actors  appear  and  vanish ;  but  our  turn  to  walk  for 
a  time  along  the  busy  scenes  of  life  has  now  come, 
and  then,  like  the  millions  who  have  preceded  us, 
w^e  shall  plunge  into  the  gulf  of  eternity,  making 
way  for  those  in  rapid  succession  who  follow. 
None  can  stay  his  own  progress — none  can  choose 
w^hen  he  shall  be  summoned  upon  the  stage  of  life, 
or  torn  away  from  its  fleeting  scenes ;  but  the  Chris- 
tian need  fear  no  evil,  as  there  is  prepared  for  us  a 
holy  garment  to  wear  during  our  progress,  the  robe 
of  our  Saviour's  righteousness,  sheltered  in  which  we 
may  safely  and  peacefully  pass  from  the  vicissitudes 


GLENLYON.  323 

of  time,  into  the  glorious  mansions  of  eternity.  His 
followers  and  disciples  may  confidently  go  forward 
to  join  the  many  who  have  preceded  them  into  the 
regions  of  glory,  and  there  wait  for  the  many  who 
shall  yet  be  called  to  join  the  heavenly  host  in  their 
songs  of  everlasting  joy  and  praise. 

In  this  church-yard  many  ancient  graves  were 
overshadowed  once  by  the  largest  yew  tree  ever 
known,  which  could  have  furnished  bows  for  her 
Majesty's  whole  body-guard  of  archers.  It  measm^ed 
fifty-six  feet  round,  and,  until  lately,  carriages  at- 
tending a  funeral  used  to  drive  through  the  hollow 
trunk.  There  only  remains  now  one  little  monu- 
ment of  its  existence,  in  the  shape  of  a  small  stunted 
fragment,  not  larger  than  a  tombstone.  Seeing  this 
forlorn  leafless  relic,  one  might  be  apt  to  forget  that 
it  ever  was  young  and  flourishing,  as  children  who 
behold  the  aged  survivors  of  a  past  generation, 
look  upon  them  often  with  a  sort  of  contemptuous 
pity,  and  fancy  they  are  made  only  for  decay  and 
death.  There  are  three  distinct  stages  which  we 
must  expect  to  experience  in  the  attachment  of  those 
around  us.  The  fond  and  partial  affection  of  our 
parents  in  childhood,  is  exchanged  in  after  life  for 
the  companionship  and  confidence  of  cotemporaries, 
but  when  these  early  associates  are  swept  into  the 
grave,  if  we  live  to  see  that  painful  hour  when  the 
closest  and  dearest  ties  of  an  earthly  existence  are 


324  GLENLYON. 

severed  by  the  tomb,  then  comes  the  time  when  we 
must  be  satisfied  with  the  compassionate  sympathy 
of  a  subsequent  generation.  When  memory,  instead 
of  hope,  becomes  our  only  Hnk  to  the  world,  an 
aged  Christian  must  fervently  long  for  that  hour 
Avhen  "  the  weary  springs  of  life  stand  still  at  last," 
and  when  he  shall  be  born  into  a  new  and  better 
world,  there  to  regain  the  long  lost  friends,  forgot- 
ten perhaps  by  all  but  himself,  whom  once  he  loved 
and  knew.  In  such  a  case,  who  would  not  envy 
the  weary  pilgrim,  when  closing  his  eyes  on  the 
sorrows  and  infirmities  of  a  present  life,  in  the  be- 
lieving hope  that  his  sufferings  are  over,  and  the 
victory  won  for  him  by  a  once  crucified  and  now 
glorified  Redeemer  ? 

"  Oh,  mourn  not  for  them,  their  grief  is  o'er ; 
Oh,  weep  not  for  them,  they  weep  no  more  ; 
For  deep  is  their  sleep,  though  cold  and  hard 
Their  pillow  may  be  in  the  old  kirk-yard." 

Along  this  glen,  we  passed  the  scene  of  a  tragi- 
cal event,  in  which  there  certainly  seems  to  have 
been  almost  an  instance  of  second  sight.  A  most 
promising  and  intelligent  young  man,  Mr.  Campbell, 
factor  to  Sir  Neil  Menzies,  was  most  unfortunately 
killed  here  five  years  ago,  by  his  horse  taking  fright, 
and  leaping  over  the  parapet  of  a  bridge,  when 
both  the  animal  and  his  rider  were  dashed  to  pieces. 
On  examining  his  papers,  it  w^as  found  that,  in  the 


GLENLYON.  325 

morning  of  that  fatal  day,  he  had  risen  particularly 
early,  and  made  his  will,  leaving  every  article  he 
possessed  to  different  friends.  Even  his  wardrobe 
and  pocket-handkerchiefs  were  specified,  and  not  a 
single  thing  omitted,  except  the  clothes  he  rode 
out  in. 

We  must  not  claim  second-sight,  however,  for 
the  well-known  General  Stewart  of  Garth,  whose 
residence,  Drummachariy,  being  in  the  glen,  he 
gave  a  farewell-dinner  here  to  all  his  neighbours, 
on  the  occasion  of  his  departing  to  take  a  command 
in  the  West  Indies,  and  made  a  speech,  inviting  the 
whole  party  to  reassemble  at  the  same  table  that 
day  three  years ;  but,  alas  !  before  as  many  months 
had  elapsed,  that  brave  and  talented  officer  fell  a 
victim  to  the  climate.  His  estate  has  been  sold  to 
Sir  Archibald  Campbell  of  Burmese  celebrity,  but  I 
did  not  hear  w^hether  he  fulfilled  his  predecessor's 
promise,  of  a  dinner  on  the  day  specified.  It  is  cu- 
rious that  no  hospitable  hon-vivant  ever  thought  of 
instituting  an  annual  dinner,  with  ices,  turkeys,  and 
champaign,  in  commemoration  of  his  own  memory, 
to  be  continued  as  long  as  any  one  survived  who 
had  personally  known  him.  It  would  be  some- 
thing new,  and  might  ensure  his  not  being  forgotten 
under  a  certain  number  of  years,  which  is  by  no 
means  a  very  easy  object  for  any  one  to  accomplish 
in  these  busy  stirring  times. 
28 


TAYMOUTH 


He  saw  apartments  where  appear'd  to  rise 
What  seem'd  as  men,  and  fix'd  on  him  their  eyes- 
Pictures  that  spoke  ;  and  there  were  mirrors  tall, 
Doubling  each  wonder  by  reflecting  all. 

Crabbe. 

My  dear  Cousin,— It  is  not  always  true,  as 
writing  masters  persist  in  telling  their  pupils,  that 
"  Familiarity  breeds  contempt."  On  the  con- 
trary, every  day,  as  it  increases  my  intimacy  with 
the  Highlands,  increases  also  my  respect  and  admi- 
ration for  them,  so  that  I  wish  to  learn  by  heart 
every  nook  and  cranny  throughout  their  wide  extent, 
and  feel  convinced  that  life  is  too  short  for  studying 
thoroughly,  and  enjoying  sufficiently,  their  inex- 
haustible beauties. 

We  this  morning  treated  our  eyes  to  a  sight  of 
Taymouth,  anciently  Balloch,  one  of  the  chief 
glories  of  Scotland,  belonging  for  many  centuries 
past  to  the  ancestors  of  Lord  Breadalbane,  the 
present  proprietor,  whose  family  motto  has  this  pe- 
culiarity, that  such  of  the  Campbells  as  are  branches 
of  the  same  stem,  all  carry  a  sentence  which  replies 
to  their  leader.  The  Marquis  says,  "  Follow  me ;" 
to  which  one  family  answers,  "  I  follow ;"  another, 


TAYMOUTH    CASTLE.  327 

"  Thus  far  ;"  a  third,  "  I  bide  my  time ;"  a  fourth, 
"  Victory  follows  the  brave  j"  and  a  fifth,  "  I  follow 
what  is  right ;"  a  most  judicious  limitation  to  their 
allegiance.  The  late  Peer  somewhat  perplexed  the 
ignorant  Highlanders,  who  had  been  accustomed 
from  time  immemorial  to  call  their  noble  landlords, 
"  Breada-a-albane,"  by  insisting  on  the  more  mod- 
ern appellation  of  "  My  Lo-o-ord,"  to  which  they 
are  now  becoming  somewhat  accustomed,  though  it 
still  seems  to  them  a  great  diminution  of  dignity. 

The  Emperor  of  Russia  once  declared  that  if  he 
were  not  Alexander  he  would  be  a  British  country 
gentleman,  but  I  go  far  beyond  him,  being  convinced 
that  Taymouth  Castle  would  be  incomparably  pre- 
ferable to  the  Imperial  palace  at  Petersburgh,  and 
you  will  think  the  same  as  soon  as  you  have  seen 
both,  which,  by  the  way,  I  have  not  yet  done 
myself. 

The  rushing  Tay  devolves  from  its  parent  lake 
at  the  west  end  of  the  park,  which  is  varied  by  fine 
specimens  of  forest  trees  in  every  variety,  and  situ- 
ated between  two  ranges  of  mountains,  wooded  to 
their  summits,  and  torn  asunder  to  make  way  for 
the  broad  expanse  of  pleasure  grounds  between. 

With  a  few  architectural  faults,  this  house  is  a 
noble  baronial  pile,  which  has  few  rivals  in  the 
Highlands,  but  the  nearer  any  thing  approaches  to 
being  a  ne  plus  ultra,  the  more  inclined  people  are  to 


328  TAYMOUTH    CASTLE. 

exhibit  that  most  universal  of  all  talents,  a  taste  for 
fault-finding,  of  which  I  must  now  give  you  a  speci- 
men. Those  who  are  so  fastidious  that  they  cannot 
exist  without  perfection,  should  leave  this  world  as 
soon  as  possible  :  but  while  the  objections  of  critics 
are  often  frivolous  and  vexatious,  I  like  to  hear  the 
opinions  of  judges,  who  keep  all  their  eyes  open  for 
beauty,  and  only  look  askance  at  defects ;  accord- 
ingly, I  agree  with  those  who  object  to  a  wing  of 
the  old  house  having  been  allowed  to  survive,  which 
is  obviously  incongruous  with  the  modern  castle, 
and  breaks  the  line  in  a  plan  decidedly  meant  to  be 
formal.  This  excrescence,  w^hich  has  baffled  the 
united  taste  of  the  present  proprietor  and  of  the 
modern  architect,  was  retained  by  the  late  Mar- 
quis as  his  home  while  he  reared  this  elegant  castle, 
and  he  became  so  attached  to  it  that  the  addition 
would  at  last  have  been  thrown  down  by  him  rather 
than  the  original.  The  new  edifice  forms  a  large 
solid  square,  flanked  by  handsome  round  towers  at 
each  corner.  One  wing  on  the  right  contains  an 
elegant  private  chapel,  embellished  with  a  highly 
ornamented  tower,  and  the  corresponding  wing, — 
which  does  not,  however,  correspond  at  all, — is  a 
long  gothic  edifice  containing  the  stables  and  oflfices. 
If  any  description  could  do  half-quarter  justice 
to  this  unsurpassable  place,  you  would  say  my  sketch 
must  be  "_p/w5  helle  que  la  vcrite.^^     Only  fancy  its 


TAYMOUTH   CASTLE.  329 

terrace  winding  by  the  river  side,  its  three  miles  of 
beeches,  its  Ume  trees, — forming  a  gothic  arch  of 
nearly  a  mile  long, — the  forest  glades,  the  flowery 
meadows,  the  rocks,  and  wooded  hills !  If  a  fairy 
offered  to  add  whatever  we  might  propose  to  em- 
bellish the  scene,  what  could  you  ask  for  more  ? 
The  gardens  are  delicious,  and  nothing  enchanted 
me  more  than  a  fancy  dairy,  built  some  years  ago, 
of  transparent  spar,  like  rough  blocks  of  ice,  pro- 
jecting so  as  to  catch  every  sun-beam,  and  to  reflect 
back  all  the  prismatic  colours  of  the  rainbow.  It 
looks  as  if  an  ice-berg  had  been  stranded  here  and 
excavated  for  the  occasion,  or  as  if  the  Empress 
Catherine  had  sent  over  a  specimen  of  her  celebrated 
frozen-palace  to  astonish  the  Highlands. 

Under  a  grove  of  trees,  I  suddenly  observed  a 
noble  herd  of  red-deer,  and  it  would  have  driven 
any  sportsman  crazy  with  delight  to  see  these  grace- 
ful creatures  all  starting  up  at  our  approach.  They 
stared  for  some  time,  then  trotted  away  in  a  line, 
tossing  their  branching  horns  with  inexpressible 
dignity,  and  after  performing  a  sort  of  military 
movement  round  the  park,  they  formed  in  a  half 
circle,  wheeled  rapidly  past  us,  and  took  up  a  com- 
manding position  on  a  high  bank  very  near  where 
we  ^tood,  appearing  there  to  the  utmost  advantage. 

At  this  moment  I  began  to  have  a  glimmering 
recollection  that  this  was  the  very  spot  where,  two 
28* 


330  TAYMOUTH   CASTLE. 

years  ago,  one  of  these  very  animals  attacked  Mr. 
Fox  Maule's  carriage-horses,  and  killed  one,  besides 
severely  wounding  the  other.  This  caused  me  some 
little  panic  on  beholding  the  regiment  of  antlers 
bristling  in  formidable  array  so  very  near,  and  on 
turning  a  sharp  corner  we  found  ourselves  close  to 
one  tall  stately -looking  hart.  He  seemed  perfectly 
tame,  and  allowed  me  to  pat  him,  becoming  gradu- 
ally so  propitiated  by  our  friendly  attentions,  that 
he  turned  to  join  the  party,  and  actually  walked  at 
least  a  mile  in  our  company,  evidently  much  pleased 
with  his  new  associates,  and  looking  so  intelhgent 
that  he  seemed  to  understand  all  we  said.  The  red- 
deer  are  very  dangerous,  however,  in  this  half-tame 
state,  and  one  transported  lately  to  Ireland,  became  so 
furious  that  after  killing  one  man  and  attacking  a 
second,  he  had  to  be  shot.  During  our  progress, 
therefore,  I  wished  it  had  been  possible  civilly  to  get 
rid  of  our  new  companion,  as  I  did  not  particularly 
enjoy  walking  in  this  way,  arm  and  arm  with  so 
formidable  a  stranger,  but  he  behaved  extremely 
well,  and  seemed  really  sorry  to  leave  us,  when 

A slammed  the  gate  in  his  face,  on  our  quitting 

the  park. 

Several  bisons  from  South  America  were  like- 
wise grazing  near  the  house  at  Taymouth,  so  we 
were  in  a  perfect  zoological  garden,  without  the  ad- 
vantage of  cages,  which  are,  on  the  whole,  rather 


TAYMOUTH    CASTLE.  331 

desirable  under  such  circumstances.  I  was  after- 
wards informed  that  these  far-travelled  foreigners 
are,  even  in  their  own  country,  exceedingly  fierce, 
but  in  the  rich  pastures  of  Perthshire  the  bisons  be- 
come still  more  irritable.  They  did  not,  however, 
take  the  trouble  of  tossing  us  ! 

The  Baron's  hall,  at  Taymouth  Castle,  with  its 
cathedral-hke  door,  is  a  splendid  room,  the  wain- 
scot of  richly  carved  oak,  the  windows  of  painted 
glass,  emblazoned  with  the  family  arms,  and  the 
oak  floor  so  extremely  slippery  that  only  a  skilful 
skaiter  should  venture  across. 

In  the  drawing-room  hang  two  portraits  alleg- 
ed to  be  Vandyke's  best.  That  artist's  great  patron, 
with  whom  he  frequently  resided,  was  Rich,  Earl  of 
Holland,  one  of  the  handsomest  men  of  the  age ; 
and  ample  justice  has  been  done  here  to  the  chival- 
ric  appearance  of  that  nobleman,  so  admired  at  court 
that  Charles  the  First  became  jealous,  and  caused 
him  to  be  imprisoned  within  his  own  house.  The 
Earl's  politics,  like  the  Vicar  of  Bray's,  were  most 
accommodating,  but  nevertheless,  he  died  on  the 
scaffold  at  last,  for  making  one  final  effort  in  behalf 
of  his  royal  master.  That  melancholy  end  is  what  I 
always  expect  to  hear  of,  when  admiring  any  fine 
chevalier-looking  portrait  of  a  distinguished  man  in 
those  turbulent  days.  The  costume  of  this  picture 
is  too  splendid  for  almost  any  court  in  the  present 


332  TAYMOUTH   CASTLE. 

time.  What  would  Louis  Philippe's  mud-bespattered 
courtiers  say  to  Lord  Holland's  white  boots  trimmed 
with  point,  a  dress  of  white  and  gold,  and  a  scarlet 
cloak  flowing  down  behind,  while  his  magnificent 
armour,  which  seems  to  have  been  that  moment  put 
off,  is  glittering  beside  him  ? 

The  other  Vandyke  represents  Lord  Holland's 
elder  brother,  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  High  Admiral 
of  England,  and  a  steady  supporter  of  Cromwell's. 
In  those  days  he  kept  open  house  for  the  clergy, 
saying,  "I  make  merry  with  them  and  at  them." 
This  picture  is  very  animated,  the  dress  beautiful, 
and  the  silken  hose  so  exceedingly  pink  that  they 
would  put  a  rose  to  the  blush,  but  in  those  days 
silk  stockings  were  borrowed  even  by  a  crowned 
monarch,  and  few  noblemen  being  rich  enough  to 
have  any,  the  painter  has  shown  them  due  attention. 

Here  also  we  observed  several  pictures  by 
Jameson,  the  Scottish  Vandyke,  whose  prices  would 
be  an  excellent  example  to  modern  artists,  for  we 
might  all  sit,  if  portraits  of  first-rate  merit  cost  only 
£1,  3s.  4d.  per  head  !  Most  of  the  Taymouth  an- 
cestors are  now  in  London,  getting  themselves  re- 
freshed, re-gilt,  and  re-varnished,  but  we  saw  the 
first  Lord  Breadalbane,  one  of  the  cleverest  men  in 
his  day,  who  married  the  daughter  of  Lord  Holland, 
and,  when  she  died,  he  gained  large  estates  in  Caith- 
ness, by  espousing  a  widow,  heiress  to  the  ancient 


GLAMMIS    CASTLE.  333 

Earls  of  Caithness.  Having  occasion  to  conquer 
his  newly  acquired  territory,  he  caused  a  ship,  laden 
with  whiskey,  to  be  purposely  stranded  off  the  coast, 
and  when  the  people  assembled  to  plunder  it,  he 
surprised  them  in  a  state  of  intoxication,  and  de- 
feated the  revellers  with  great  slaughter. 

In  the  new  addition  to  Taymouth  Castle,  some 
of  the  sitting-rooms  appear  only  to  be  accessible  by 
passing  through  the  chapel ;  and  the  ceiling  of  the 
library  has  already  cost  jGSOO.  It  is  most  elaborately 
decorated  in  the  antique  style,  with  deep  cornices, 
and  a  profusion  of  curious  devices  ;  but  in  order  fully 
to  examine  and  appreciate  all  the  ornaments,  a 
visiter  would  require  to  prostrate  himself  for  some 
hours  on  the  floor. 

About  twelve  miles  beyond  Cupar,  in  the  rich 
valley  of  Strathmore,  stands  the  beautiful  castle  of 
Glammis,  a  tall  building  nearly  one  hundred  feet 
high,  with  a  world  of  spires,  towers,  turrets,  and 
battlements ;  but  its  greatest  peculiarity  is  the  shape, 
having  four  wings  projecting  like  spokes  of  a  wheel, 
towards  different  points  of  the  compass.  It  has  for 
ages  past  belonged  to  the  Earls  of  Strathmore,  who 
must  have  been,  if  painters  did  not  flatter  in  former 
days,  as  they  sometimes  do  now,  a  singularly  hand- 
some race.  The  most  interesting  event  in  this  fam- 
ily was  the  tragical  fate  of  the  young,  innocent,  and 
beautiful  Lady  Glammis,  publicly  and  ignominiously 


334  GLAMMIS   CASTLE. 

burned  to  death  for  witchcraft  on  the  Castlehill  of 
Edinburgh.  She  was  sister  to  the  Earl  of  Angus, 
whom  James  the  Fifth,  his  step-son,  hated,  and  his 
royal  detestation  against  the  house  of  Douglas,  led 
him  to  accuse  this  amiable  lady  of  "  spelling  away 
his  life."  His  Majesty  certainly  contrived  to  shorten 
hers  I  Lady  Glammis's  son,  a  mere  child,  was  for- 
feited, imprisoned,  and  condemned  to  be  executed, 
but  after  the  king's  death  he  was  restored.  His 
eldest  son,  the  chancellor,  was  slain  by  accident, 
in  consequence  of  a  feud  with  the  Earl  of  Craw- 
ford ;  and  his  second  son  was  the  gruff  Master  of 
Glammis,  who  kept  the  door  against  King  James 
during  the  famous  raid  of  Ruthven ;  and  when  the 
young  monarch  burst  into  tears,  he  dryly  remarked, 
^'  Better  that  children  weep  than  bearded  men,"  a 
view  of  the  subject  which  his  Majesty  never  forgot. 

In  later  times  there  were  six  brothers  in  this 
family,  who,  each  in  succession,  became  Earl  of 
Strathmore,  and  the  last  died  a  very  amiable  death 
when  endeavouring  to  pacify  some  angry  combat- 
ants in  a  brawl. 

As  we  are  homeward-bound  now,  I  expect  soon 
to  exchange  writing  for  speaking,  and  narrrative 
for  dialogue,  which  will  be  a  most  welcome  improve- 
ment in  our  intercourse,  and  I  hope  our  two  minds 
w^ill  often  strike  a  light  between  them.  I  have 
sometimes  thought  how  curious  it  would  be,  if  a 


GLAMMIS    CASTLE.  335 

volume  were  supernaturally  to  appear  at  the  end  of 
men's  lives,  containing  all  they  have  ever  spoken. 
Some  would  be  seen  to  have  scarcely  uttered  so 
many  words  altogether  as  would  fill  a  small  duode- 
cimo, while  others  have  rattled  out  more  in  a  day 
than  most  people  in  a  year  ;  but,  as  Pope  says,  the 
tongue  is  a  race-horse,  that  runs  the  faster  the  less 
it  carries.  We  shall  both  of  course  hit  exactly  the 
happy  medium  between  taciturnity  and  volubihty  ; 
meantime  wishing  you  joy  of  having  so  voluminous 
a  correspondent,  I  bid  you  once  more,  a  very  short 
adieu. 

Lost  in  earth,  in  air,  or  main, 
Kindred  atoms  meet  again ! 


BLAIR-ATHOL. 


Give  ear  unto  my  song, 

And  if  you  find  it  wondrous  short, 

It  cannot  hold  you  long.  Goldsmith. 

My  dear  Cousin, — This  is  the  only  letter  I  have 
yet  felt  any  regret  in  sitting  down  to  write,  being 
my  P.P.C.  It  is  always  unpleasant  to  do  any  thing 
for  the  last  time, — even  when  finally  stepping  out 
of  an  old  hack-chaise.  1  could  almost  muster  up 
some  fine  feelings  for  the  occasion.  Conceive  then 
my  emotion,  on  parting  w^ith  this  veteran  pen,  split 
up  to  the  hilt,  and  on  giving  it  a  final  dip  into  ink 
as  thick  as  a  pudding;  but  one  great  secret  of  writing 
is,  to  know  the  proper  time  for  stopping,  and  I 
agree  with  a  very  sensible  French  writer  who 
remarks,  "  C^est  le  role  d'un  sot  d^etre  impoHun. 
Vhomme  sage,  scait  disparoitre  le  moment  qui  pre- 
cede celui  ou  il  seroit  de  trop.^' 

A  gay  annual  meeting  takes  place  in  Perthshire 
at  this  season,  for  the  practice  and  exhibition  of  all 
those  athletic  games  and  exercises  for  which  the 
Highlanders  used  formerly  to  be  so  pre-eminent,  and 
as  it  is  held  this  year  close  to  Blair-Athol,  at  the 
bridge  of  Tilt,  we  thought  our  best  compensation 
for  not  seeing  Lord  Eglinton's  Tilting  would  be,  to 


BLAIR-ATHOL.  337 

join  this  rendezvous  at  the  Tilt  meeting,  especially, 
as  we  were  invited  to  accompany  a  party  with  whom 
it  would  have  been  a  pleasure  to  go  anywhere,  and 
accordingly  we  proceeded  to  what  an  English 
stranger  called  by  mistake  "  the  kilt  meeting." 

Here,  as  well  as  at  the  Ayrshire  tournament,  the 
spectators  would  all  have  required  the  Humane  So- 
ciety's apparatus  to  recover  drowned  persons,  for  the 
rain  fell  in  such  torrents,  it  really  was  a  natural  cu- 
riosity worth  coming  all  the  distance  to  see.  Though 
wind  and  weather  did  not  permit,  however,  crowds 
remained  many  hours  on  the  ground,  and  in  full  stare, 
and  certainly  a  more  curious  exhibition  can  scarcely 
be  fancied  than  those  Olympic  games  of  the  North. 

On  a  grassy  plain,  like  a  magnified  bowling- 
green,  surrounded  by  a  ring  of  wild  and  wooded 
mountains,  we  saw  a  brilliant  circle  of  carriages, 
filled  with  ladies — all  young  and  beautiful,  of  course 
— wearing  arches  of  feathers  over  their  heads,  and 
gardens  of  flowers  underneath  their  bonnets.  Within 
this  wreath  of  beauty  and  fashion,  was  collected  a 
multitude  of  tall,  fine-looking  Highlanders,  showily 
dressed  in  the  gay  tartans  of  their  various  clans. 
Here  kilts^,  philabegs,  plaids,  dirks.  Highland  bon- 
nets, and  eagles'  feathers  were  all  mingled  in  one 
dazzling  medley,  varied  by  the  animated  counte- 
nances of  those  who  wore  them,  all  glowing  with 
health,  excitement,  and  good  humour.  The  scene 
29 


338  BLAIR-ATHOL. 

was  greatly  enlivened  by  the  warlike  bagpipes,  dec- 
orated with  magnificent  banners,  and  long  streamers 
which  floated  like  rainbows  in  the  air ;  and  without 
doubt  the  most  dignified  looking  human  being  who 
steps  upon  the  earth,  is  a  Highland  piper  in  full  cos- 
tume, his  feathers  waving  like  cedar  trees  in  his  bon- 
net, while  he  blows  through  his  pipe  till  he  almost 
blows  his  head  off,  and  struts  about,  as  if  he  were 
leading  all  his  clansmen  to  victory.  We  have 
never  been  distinctly  told  what  was  "  the  tune  the 
cow  died  of,"  but  I  am  convinced  it  could  only  be  a 
Highland  pibroch. 

The  chieftains,  noblemen,  and  gentlemen  in  gen- 
eral, wore  the  undress  tartan  livery  of  their  clans, 
exactly  similar  to  that  of  their  tenants,  servants,  or 
dependents,  and  we  were  expected  to  distinguish  the 
aristocracy  from  the  democracy,  not  by  any  advan- 
tages of  dress  and  ornament,  but  by  a  native  superi- 
ority of  air,  manner,  and  appearance.  In  some  cases 
this  was  very  easily  done,  for  we  could  trace  a  dig- 
nity of  exterior  in  those  accustomed  to  authority  and 
distinction,  carrying  "  pride  in  their  port,  and  defi- 
ance in  their  eye,"  which  announced  at  once  a  man 
of  birth  and  rank,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  there  were 
many  illustrious  individuals,  who  relied  on  our  pen- 
etration rather  too  implicitly.  Among  so  many  fine 
soldier-like  men,  practised  in  fencing,  dancing,  and 
other  manly  exercises,  it  required  something  very 


BLAIR-ATHOL.  339 

nearly  superhuman  to  cause  an  instinctive  recogni- 
tion of  any  person's  real  rank  and  consequence.  If 
the  officers  in  a  regiment  were  all  equipped  exactly 
like  the  men,  and  indiscriminately  mingled  together, 
it  might  puzzle  even  a  Field  Marshal,  or  a  Lord  in 
Waiting  to  discriminate  the  difference ;  and  even  a 
Highland  chief,  in  coarse  tartan  plaid,  and  blue  bon- 
net, looks  sometimes,  to  an  ordinary  eye,  not  very 
unlike  a  Highland  drover. 

I  have  heard  of  such  a  contradiction  in  terms  as 
"  an  aristocratic  democrat,"  which  may  do  in  poli- 
tics perhaps,  but  can  scarcely  be  hit  off  in  dress ; 
and  it  is  such  voluntary  levelling  of  their  own  exter- 
nal distinctions  in  the  higher  classes,  which  produces 
Radicalism  and  discontent  among  the  lower  orders. 
If  noblemen  and  landed  proprietors,  instead  of 
"  hiding  behind  the  veil  of  insignificancy,"  would 
take  the  trouble — for  a  trouble  it  certainly  must  be — 
to  appear  on  all  public  occasions  in  a  degree  of  state 
suitable  to  their  dignity,  we  should  hear  less  about 
the  feelings  of  equality  and  insubordination,  which 
are  now  so  rapidly  increasing  among  those  who, 
being  unable  to  estimate  moral  and  intellectual  pre- 
eminence, know  nothing  of  great  men  but  their  out- 
ward aspect,  and  who  observe  little  in  that  respect 
very  obviously  superior  to  themselves.  You  have 
often  seen  the  sun,  when  shorn  of  his  beams,  look 
very  like  the  moon,  and  I  could  fancy  how  conve- 


340  BLAIR-ATHOL. 

iiient  it  would  be  to  a  peacock,  if  he  could  go  about 
occasionally  quite  incog  without  his  tail,  but  then 
he  must  not  be  surprised  if  other  birds  think  them- 
selves as  good  as  he.  The  old  proverb  is  really 
mistaken  in  saying,  that  "  pride  feels  no  pain,"  be- 
cause it  is  often  put  to  a  great  deal  of  inconvenience 
by  the  external  trappings  of  magnificence,  which 
nevertheless  it  is  unfair  towards  all  ranks  of  society, 
entirely  to  lay  aside. 

A  tall  grand  looking  Highlander  in  full  costume 
was  pointed  out  to  me  at  the  Tilt  meeting,  who  held 
himself  particularly  erect,  and  walked  with  a  free 
and  graceful  step.     My  companion  whispered  that 

he  was  the  eldest  son  of  Lord  S n,  and  I  never 

guessed,  of  course,  that  there  could  be  any  mistake, 
till  several  minutes  afterwards,  when  he  appeared 
in  the  ring  as  a  competitor,  instead  of  a  judge,  and 
he  turned  out  to  be  an  innkeeper,  celebrated  for  his 
prowess  and  activity.  It  must  be  difficult  for  men 
making  so  astonishing  a  display  of  agility  and  power, 
which  they  probably  occupy  years  in  acquiring,  to 
remember  always  the  admonition  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
ture, not  to  "  glory  in  their  strength." 

Each  performer  successively  carried  the  well- 
grown  trunk  of  a  larch  tree,  nearly  twenty  feet 
long,  quite  erect  in  his  hands,  and  after  running  a 
few  steps,  threw  it  violently  forward  with  so  strong 
an  impetus,  that  the  top  struck  the  ground,  and  it 


BLAIR-ATHOL.  341 

wheeled  completely  over,  describing  a  half-circle  in 
the  air.  As  one  competitor  after  another  attempted 
this  Herculean  feat,  a  pause  of  intense  interest  took 
place,  but  the  greatest  success  did  not  elicit  a  soup- 
gon  of  applause.  If  the  audience  had  been  com- 
posed of  Madame  Tassaud's  wax- work  figures,  they 
could  scarcely  have  remained  more  passive.  Except 
a  glance  of  surprise  exchanged  between  those  who 
stood  nearest  each  other,  no  external  symptom  of 
approbation  appeared  !  It  is  so  commonly  the  case 
in  Scotland,  that  orators,  musicians,  and  other  pub- 
lic performers,  become  discouraged  and  abashed  by 
the  solemn  silence  which  follows  their  most  bril- 
liant efforts,  that  I  mean  to  invent  a  machine,  and 
take  out  a  patent  for  it,  which  shall  make  a  sound 
like  the  clapping  of  several  hundred  hands,  when- 
ever any  single  individual  touches  the  spring, 
which  will  thus  fill  up  the  pauses  of  orators,  while 
searching  for  an  idea,  and  afford  the  encouragement 
necessary  for  carrying  on  eveiy  display  of  ability 
with  proper  spirit.  The  only  speech  I  have  heard 
of  lately  which  excited  sufficient  enthusiasm,  was 
that  of  a  political  candidate  to  a  Radical  mob,  when 
he  began  by  saying,  "  Gentlemen !"  and  not  one  of 
the  audience  having  ever  been  thus  addressed  before, 
the  burst  of  applause  became  so  deafening,  that  not 
another  word  of  his  speech  was  audible. 

Highland  dancing  displays  incomparable  execu- 
29* 


342  BLAIR-ATHOL. 

tion,  and  requires  a  rapidity  of  movement  which  the 
eye  can  scarcely  follow.  One  of  the-  performances 
would  have  amused  you  much,  on  account  of  the  ex- 
treme precision  and  neatness  w^hich  it  required,  being 
quite  in  the  hair-breadth  style.  Two  walking  sticks 
are  laid  on  the  ground  in  a  horizontal  cross,  within 
the  four  angles  of  which  a  dancer  undertakes  to  per- 
form with  matchless  rapidity  a  series  of  the  most 
intricate  steps,  but  the  instant  his  foot  accidentally 
touches  one  of  the  sticks,  he  is  obliged  to  stop.  For- 
merly two  sharp  swords  supplied  the  place  of  those 
inoffensive  poles,  and  they  so  effectually  disabled  a 
performer,  after  the  slightest /az^  pas,  from  contin- 
uing to  exhibit,  that  he  might  as  well  have  executed 
his  hornpipe  among  red-hot  ploughshares.  The 
dance  gets  quicker  and  quicker,  the  music  more 
rapid,  and  the  steps  more  intricate  every  instant, 
while  the  competitor  passes  with  ceaseless  activity 
over  the  prostrate  sticks,  springing  so  lightly  across, 
that  his  feet  seem  only  pointing  at  the  ground,  with- 
out ever  resting  on  it.  All  that  feet  can  do,  these 
Highlanders  did,  and  more  than  I  ever  saw  any  feet 
attempt  before,  but  we  all  looked  on  in  solemn 
silence,  as  if  witnessing  an  execution. 

Nothing  ever  looked  more  like  insanity  than  the 
reels  at  last !  Four  stout  Highlanders,  in  full  dress, 
raised  on  a  wet  slippery  wooden  platform,  and 
dancing  in  the  open  air,  under  a  torrent  of  rain, 


BLAIR-ATHOL.  343 

cracking  their  fingers  to  imitate  castenets,  shuffling, 
capering,  cutting,  whirhng  round,  and  uttering  a 
sort  of  sudden  yell,  customary  here,  during  a  very 
animated  dance,  to  encourage  the  piper.  In  tolera- 
ble weather  this  would  have  been  all  very  enlivening, 
but  I  felt  grieved  for  the  beautiful  tartans,  which 
grew  dim  as  we  looked  at  them,  and  such  joyous 
merriment,  under  a  canopy  of  mist,  rain,  and  east 
wind,  seemed  quite  delirious. 

The  wives,  sisters,  and  daughters  of  the  perfor- 
mers were  all  anxiously  looking  on  from  beneath 
their  cotton  umbrellas  with  sensations  of  interest 
and  excitement,  such  as  the  greatest  gambler  on  a 
race-course  might  have  envied,  and  my  chief  diver- 
sion arose  from  watching  their  eager  countenances, 
while  frequently,  in  a  burst  of  uncontrollable  excite- 
ment, they  broke  through  the  lines,  and  advanced 
within  a  few  paces  of  the  competitors.  At  one 
moment,  when  the  rain  poured  down  with  pecuhar 
vehemence,  a  crowd  of  dripping-wet  clansmen,  to 
save  their  gay  tartans,  put  up  a  multitude  of  umbrel- 
las, and  cowered  so  near  our  carriage  for  shelter, 
that  we  saw  nothing  of  the  dancing.  My  teasing 
dilemma  being  observed  by  one  of  the  judges  who 
happened  to  pass,  he  obligingly  resolved  to  befriend 
me,  and  called  out  to  the  men  in  a  tone  of  indignant 
astonishment,  "  Put  down  these  umbrellas  !  !  Who 
ever  heard  before  of  a  Highlander  with  an  umbrella!" 


344  BLAIR-ATHOL. 

Down  dropped  every  umbrella  on  the  spot,  and 
the  poor  men  looked  like  convicted  criminals,  quite 
humbled  at  the  very  idea  of  being  considered  effemi- 
nate, while  I  really  sympathized  in  their  mortifica- 
tion, aware  that,  to  a  Celt,  no  accusation  could  have 
been  more  unwelcome. 

As  a  learned  philosopher  once  judiciously  ob- 
served, "  every  thing  that  has  a  limit  must  come  to 
an  end ;"  and  now  having  introduced  you  to  the 
scenery,  machinery,  and  decorations  of  the  High- 
lands, while  the  whole  dramatis  personcE  are  col- 
lected on  the  stage  in  a  state  of  perfect  happiness,  I 
must  remember  that,  under  such  circumstances,  it  is 
customary  for  either  a  comedy  or  tragedy  to  con- 
clude, after  which  the  manager  makes  his  final 
speech,  filled  with  humility  on  account  of  his  own 
deficiencies,  and  of  gratitude  for  favours  received. 
According,  therefore,  to  established  prescription,  I 
shall  finish  now,  in  the  appropriate  words  of  Shak- 
speare : 

Thus  on  your  patience  evermore  attending, 
Nev/  joy  wait  on  you !  Here  our  play  has  ending. 

Flourish  of  trumpets,  drums  and  bagpipes, — 
enter  a  procession  of  Highlanders.  They  form  a 
group,  and  the  curtain  gradually  drops,  amidst 
thunders  of  applause.  [Exeunt. 

THE    END. 


INDEX 


Aberdeen, 

College  of,    . 

Episcopal  Church  at 
Abergeldie  Castle, 
Altyre,  approach  to,         : 
AthoU,  Duke  of, 
Barrogill  Castle, 
Berridale,        '. 
Brodie  Castle, 

Portraits  at, 
Balgownie, 
Balveny  Castle, 
Ballindalloch, 
Banff,  . 
Balmorrall, 
Blairgowrie,   . 
Blair-Athol, 

Tilt-meeting  at, 
Caithness, 

Ord  of. 

Fishermen  of,     . 
Castle  Grant,  . 

Portraits  at, 
Cullen  House,  . 

Portraits  at, 
Castle  Fraser, . 
Castle  Forbes, 
Craigievar, 

Castle, 


Page 
259 
261 
263 
284 
309 
309 
58 
24 
145 
146 
175 
186 
186 
234 
285 
294 
336 
337 
39 
21 
27 
178 
183 
228 
229 
267 
273 
278 
277 


346 


INDEX. 


Craighall, 

Caslle  Blair,    .... 

Castle  Menzies,    . 

Dornoch,  .... 

Cathedral  at, 
Duke  and  Duchess  of  Sutherland,    . 
Dunrobin  Castle, 

Portraits  at, 
Dunbeath,  Castle  of, 
Darnaway  Castle, 

Portraits  at, 
Dunphail,        .... 

Gumming  of, 

Great  flood  at, 
Duflf  House, 

Portraits  at,  .  . 
Dunottar  Castle,  . 

Dee,  River,      .... 
Dunkeld,  .... 

Cathedral,     . 

Grounds  of, 
Elchies,  .... 

Elgin,        .  ... 

Cathedral  at,  ; 

Fowling,  Anecdotes  of,    . 
Fair  Isle,         .... 

Singular  Religious  destitution  of, 

Recommended  as  a  Missionary  Station, 

Treatment  of  a  shipwrecked  crew  at, 
Fort  Charlotte,  .... 

Ferry  town, 
Forres,  .... 

Ancient  Monument  near, 
Fochabers,      .... 

Infant  Schools  at, 


INDEX. 


Fyvie. 

Castle, 

Park  of, 

Portraits  at,    . 
Golspie,    . 
Girnigo  Castle, 
Grantown, 
Glenfiddich,     . 
Gordon  Castle,     . 

Portraits  at,  . 
Glenlivet,  . 
Glenlyon, 

Large  yew-tree  at, 
Gordon,  Duke  of. 

Duchess  of, 
Glammis  Castle, 
Helmsdale, 

Castle  of, 
Huntly,  Countess  of, 
Inverness, 

Wool  market  at, 
Invercauld, 

John  O'Groat's  House,    . 
Kirkwall, 

Cathedral  of,      . 
Kildrummy  Castle,     . 

History  of, 
Killiecrankie, 
Lerwick,   . 

Hospitality  at, 
Laird  of  Bonymoon, 
Lynn  of  Dee, 
Lude, 

Logle  Rait, 
Lady  Glammis,  tragical  fate  of, 


348 


INDEX. 


Mitchell,  James, 

Moy  House, 

Morayshire,     . 

Monymusk, 

Macbeih's  Cairn, 

Mar  Lodge, 

Nottingham  House,    . 

Nairn,        .  .  .     ■ 

Pitfichy, 

Reluglas,   . 

Sinclair  Castle, 

Stircoke,   . 

Second  Sight, 

Scrabster  Castle,  . 

Shetland, 

Road  in. 

Manufactures  of. 

First  Steam-boat  to, 

Sheep  of. 

Ponies  of, 

Birds  of. 
Sir  John  Sinclair, 
Sumburgh-head, 
Sanda,  Isle  of, 
Sanquhar  House, 
Spey  Bridge, 
Sir  Neil  Menzies, 
Thurso,     . 

Castle  of, 
Tay  mouth. 

Castle, 

Portraits  at, 
Wick,  . 

Popish  Chapel  at, 
Weem, 


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